The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (“DPSCS”) could play a pivotal role re-enfranchising formerly incarcerated Marylanders.[1] On March 12, 2024, Maryland Democrats voted for House Bill 627 (“HB 627” or “the Bill”), which would make the DPSCS an “automatic voter registration agency.”[2] If passed, this law would allow individuals qualified to automatically be registered to vote upon release from prison.[3] In Maryland, convicted felons are stripped of their voting rights upon entering prison.[4] Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins, the Bill’s author and leader of Maryland’s Legislative Black Caucus, argues that HB 627 would remove obstacles to voting that impact historically disenfranchised Marylanders.[5]

In the U.S., individual states register voters and the individual, not the state, most often initiates registration.[6] Felon disenfranchisement has long been a state tool used to limit Black voter participation.[7] Since 2020, many states with a history and tradition of racial voting discrimination have passed legislation restricting voting rights.[8] In Virginia, for example, individuals with felony convictions only become eligible to vote after petitioning the state to restore their civil right to vote.[9]

Maryland has prioritized restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated Marylanders.[10] In 2016, Maryland repealed lifetime disenfranchisement for convicted felons,[11] exempting individuals that have been convicted of buying or selling votes.[12] In 2018, Maryland’s Secure and Accessible Registration Act empowered many state agencies to register Maryland voters.[13] In 2021, the Maryland legislature passed legislation requiring that DPSCS provide voter registration applications to released felons along with a notice that their voting rights had been restored.[14]

Ending felony disenfranchisement has at least three specific benefits.[15] First, voting helps reintegrate citizens into their communities, and research shows reintegration reduces recidivism.[16] Secondly, disenfranchisement disparately impacts Black citizens:[17] 5% of age-eligible Black citizens cannot vote due to past convictions compared to 1.5% for all other races.[18] Finally, denying citizens their right to vote is undemocratic.[19] International[20] and national[21] organizations alike urge the United States to not restrict voting rights, as voting rights are inherently linked to democratic ideals.[22]

Maryland can be in sharp contrast to some of its sister states. There seems to be little opposition to the current proposal to include DPSCS in the list of state agencies that are automatic voter registration agencies.[23] The Maryland General Assembly should pass HB 627 and help ensure that all Marylanders have a voice and vote.

Patricia Ziff is a 2024 graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law and was an Associate Editor for Law Forum. Patricia graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in secondary English education and art history. Patricia later earned a master’s degree in gifted and talented education from Notre Dame of Maryland. Patricia has interned in the Office of Legal Counsel for Baltimore City Public Schools and for the Honorable Judge Lori Simpson of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland. Patricia was also a legal writing fellow at the law school’s Legal Writing Center and member of the law school’s Honor Board. Post-graduation, Patricia will be clerking for the Honorable Judge Colleen Cavanaugh of the Baltimore County Circuit Court.

[1] See generally H.D. 627, 2024 Gen. Assemb., 446th Sess. (Md. 2024).

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Jack Hogan, Md. House Votes for Prison Release to Include Voter Registration, Daily Rec. (Mar. 12, 2024), https://thedailyrecord.com/2024/03/12/md-house-votes-for-prison-release-to-include-voter- registration/.

[5] Id.

[6] Drew Desilver, Turnout in U.S. Has Soared in Recent Elections But by Some Measures Still Trails That of Many Other Countries, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (Nov. 1, 2022), https://www.pewresearch.org/short- reads/2022/11/01/turnout-in-u-s-has-soared-in-recent-elections-but-by-some-measures-still-trails-that-of- many-other-countries/. (In other countries, the federal government assumes the primary responsibility in registering voters.).

[7] Gilda Daniels, Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in in America 148 (2020).

[8] Jaslene Singh & Sara Carter, States Have Added Nearly 100 Restrictive Laws Since SCOTUS Gutted the Voting Rights Act 10 Years Ago, Brennan Ctr. for Just. (June 23, 2023), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/states-have-added-nearly-100-restrictive-laws- scotus-gutted-voting-rights.

[9] Felon Voting Rights, Nat’t Conf, of State Legislatures https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and- campaigns/felon-voting-rights (last visited Apr. 20, 2024).

[10] See generally Press Release, Brennan Ctr. for Just., Maryland Legislature Passes Automatic Voter Registration, (Mar. 28, 2018), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/maryland- legislature-passes-automatic-voter-registration; see also In Support of House Bill 627 to Guarantee Voting Rights Regardless of Incarceration Status Submitted to the Maryland Senate Education, Energy, and the Environment Committee, 2024 Leg., 446th Sess. (Md. 2024) (statement of Nicole D. Porter, Senior Dir. of Advoc. for The Sent’g Project).

[11] Nicole D. Porter & Morgan McLeod, Expanding the Vote: State Felony Disenfranchisement Reform, 1997-2023, SENT’G PROJECT (Oct. 18, 2023) https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/expanding-the-vote-state-felony-disenfranchisement-reform- 1997-2023/.

[12] Restoration of Voting Rights in Maryland, Md. State Bd. of Elections, https://elections.maryland.gov/voter_registration/restoration.html, (last visited Apr., 7, 2024).

[13] Press Release, Brennan Ctr. for Just., Maryland Legislature Passes Automatic Voter Registration, (Mar. 28, 2018), https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/maryland-legislature-passes- automatic-voter-registration.

[14] Hogan, supra note 4.

[15] Should Felons Regain the Right to Vote?, Britannica Procon.org, https://felonvoting.procon.org (last visited Apr. 20, 2024).

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18] Christopher Uggen et al., Locked Out 2022: Estimates of People Denied Voting Rights, Sent’g Project (Oct. 25, 2022) https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/locked-out-2022-estimates-of-people- denied-voting-rights/.

[19] Should Felons Regain the Right to Vote?, supra note 15.

[20] Erika Wood, Restoring the Right to Vote 5 (2019), https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/2019-08/Report_Restoring-the-Right-to-Vote.pdf.

[21] See generally Laleh Ispahani, Breaking Barriers to the Ballot: Human Rights and Felon Enfranchisement, Am. C.L. Union (June 25, 2007) https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/images/asset_upload_file662_31584.pdf.

[22] Id. at 2.

[23] Hogan, supra note 4. (Interestingly, one legislator tried to amend the legislation by adding application and renewal assistance for hunting and fishing licenses.)