UNLOCK The Vote: EXPO of Wisconsin's Fight for Voting Rights The Midwest Climate
W isconsin’s neighboring states have all passed policy changes to allow felons (people with a felony conviction) more access to voting. For ex- ample, Minnesota and Michigan have eliminated felony disenfranchisement and restored people with a felony conviction their voting rights once released from prison, regardless of their status on parole, probation, or extended supervision. There- fore, the state of Wisconsin should want to move towards aligning with our neighboring state’s pol- icies. In that case, the state must Unlock The Vote and allow the estimated 51,018 Wisconsinites currently disenfranchised to vote once released and restore their civil rights. The report below will detail Wisconsin’s neighboring states’ actions used to Unlock The Vote and the change in language in these different states’ statutes or constitutions. Minnesota Originally, Minnesota’s state constitution in Arti- cle VII: Elective Franchise stated that anyone con- victed of a felony or treason was ineligible to vote unless restored to civil rights. This section of the state’s constitution was challenged in Minnesota’s Supreme Court in the case of Schroeder v. Min-
nesota Secretary of State. The court rejected legal arguments that Article VII was uncon- stitutional and upheld Minnesota’s ineligibility criteria. The state’s legislature pushed to pass House Bill 28, which restored voting rights for people with felony convictions once released. Working together, the Governor and the Min- nesota legislature made robust legislation that restored voting rights for more than 55,000 Minnesotians. Michigan As of 1975, Michigan has allowed people with a felony conviction the right to vote once re- leased from prison and has only deemed cit- izens ineligible to vote if serving time in jail or prison. Within the Michigan State Con- stitution, it states in Article II Elections that persons excluded from voting include anyone committed to a jail or penal institution. Mich- igan is one of 25 states that have restored the right to vote for people with felony convic- tions, which allows them to exercise their full civil rights.
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