A concurrent RESOLUTION

 

to Acknowledge the general assembly's belief that a felony conviction should no longer disqualify a person from being registered or voting who is no longer incarcerated.

 

Whereas, the United States maintains greater restrictions on the voting rights of individuals who are currently incarcerated or convicted of felonies and certain other offenses than most other democratic countries; and

 

Whereas, as of 2022, more than 4.4 million people in the United States were disenfranchised because of a felony conviction; and

 

Whereas, many states' felony disenfranchisement laws are historically rooted in racism and date back to the Post-Reconstruction era when some states, particularly those in the South, sought to restrict the voting rights of Black citizens through both the enactment of felony disenfranchisement laws and the expansion of crimes classified as felonies; and

 

Whereas, the impact of the historic racism associated with felony disenfranchisement laws persists to this day, rendering Black Americans ineligible to vote at a rate four times greater than all other Americans combined; and

 

Whereas, in two states and the District of Columbia, felons maintain their voting rights even during incarceration, and in twenty-three states felons lose their voting rights only while incarcerated; and

 

Whereas, South Carolina continues to disenfranchise those convicted of felonies even after release from prison, often extending until the completion of probation, parole, or other supervised release, or the receipt of a pardon. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:

 

That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, believe a felony conviction should no longer disqualify a person from being registered or voting who is no longer incarcerated.

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