New Law Restores Voting Rights To Washingtonians With Felonies

OLYMPIA, WA — Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a bill restoring voting rights to Washingtonians who have been formerly incarcerated for felonies.

The bill went into law immediately following Inslee's signing, giving voting rights back to an estimated 20,000 people, per The Seattle Times.

The bill only applies to those who have completed their prison sentences. As the governor noted during his signing Wednesday, similar laws are already on the books in many other states.

"The right to vote is a key component to a successful re-entry into society following incarceration," Inslee said. "Now Washingtonians will have the same rights as 47 percent of Americans who live in states where laws like this already exist."

The bill is the first-ever law sponsored by recently-elected Rep. Tarra Simmons (D-Bremerton). Simmons is also the state's first formerly-incarcerated legislator, and says that, due to her personal experiences with the criminal justice system, she believes restoring these voting rights will help reduce recidivism.

“Regaining the right to vote, after having lost so many things, meant more to me than most people could imagine,” Simmons said in a statement. “This might seem a small thing to some people, but it’s a giant step for civil rights and it’s one that will give others what it gave me: a belief that I mattered, that I was once again a member of society, and that my freedom was worth preserving at all costs.”

Simmons argues that, prior to this bill's signing, it was difficult and demoralizing to try and recover voting rights following a felony conviction. Now, she says those who have paid their debt to society will no longer have to jump through hurdles.

"This new law won’t affect community custody rules or relieve people of their responsibility to pay their legal financial obligations," Simmons said. "It simply severs the tie between voting and those things that have nothing to do with voting."

A survey on the issue showed 87 percent of Washington voters supported the bill before its passage, though some Republican lawmakers argued the legislation should consider what types of felonies they had committed, as The Seattle Times reports.

Supporters of the bill argue that the process of restoring voting rights unfairly punished low-income citizens. Previously, those who had their rights conditionally restored could have had their voting rights revoked once again for missing payments tied to their court cases.

The bill's passage comes in contrast to other legislation from across the country seeking to tamp down on voting access. While the governor did not call out Georgia by name, he did take an apparent jab at the state's recent voter restrictions, which have drawn widespread condemnation from Democratic leaders.

"While other states are restricting the right to vote, I'm glad that here we're expanding our access to democracy," the governor said.