Question 1: What are Maryland’s laws for removing voting rights?
A: Each state has its own law about whether felons can vote.
In 2007 in Maryland, former inmates were given back their right to vote once they’re done serving their sentence, except if their crime was related to voting. In 2016, that expanded to give voting rights to convicts who were out of jail but still on parole or probation.
When the law changed in 2016, the state estimated that 40,000 people became eligible to vote.
But that doesn’t mean all of them vote. Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, says most people that get released from prison don’t realize they can vote.
Some advocates have also framed this as a racial justice issue. Only 32% of Maryland residents are Black, but 72% of state prisoners are Black. So the law affects Black people at a higher rate.
Question 2: What efforts have there been to change the system?
A bill made it through the state House this year that would have made prisons an automatic voter registration site. Same way you get asked to register to vote when you get your drivers’ license or access other state services, prisoners would get asked to register when they’re released. But the bill was killed in the Senate. Michigan is the only state that has this in place.
The Voting Rights For All Act is also in the House now, though it’s been stalled for a few months. It would let everyone vote - in prison or not.
Question 3: What are other states’ laws on letting felons vote?
16 allow the vote after prison, and after their parole/probation period has ended.
Two states, Maine and Vermont, and next door in Washington DC, actually allow inmates to vote while in prison.
Maryland is one of nine states where some convicted felons can’t vote after being released from prison, depending on the crime they committed. But most of those states have rules around serious crimes such as murder of sexual assault. In Maryland, it’s just if your crime is related to voter fraud or buying votes.
Question 4: Who runs the state’s elections, and how much are they earning?
Director Jared DeMarinis: $160,000
25 others making six figures
Officials appointed by five-member Board of Elections. One member was arrested this year for his alleged participation in the Jan. 6 riots.