FELONS' VOTING RIGHTS ASSAILED

Rule dilutes power of blacks, critics say

In Georgia, convicted felons who are out of prison but still on probation or
parole can't vote, even though most work and pay taxes.

"This is a clear case of taxation without representation," said state
Democratic Rep. Bob Holmes. The same issue sparked the Boston Tea party, he
noted.

Holmes and fellow Democrat Rep. Tyrone Brooks said they will sponsor
legislation during the next General Assembly session aimed at removing the
voting ban for convicted felons on probation or parole.

This marks the first time such an attempt has been made in Georgia, Brooks
said.

"It's long overdue," he said. "You shouldn't ever lose your right to vote
until you die and go to heaven."

Brooks, Holmes, the Rev. Joseph Lowery and others spoke at a news conference
Wednesday at the Capitol to mark the release of a study indicating that
voting strength in entire Atlanta neighborhoods is diluted because so many
black males are in the correctional system.

According to the study, one of every seven black males in the city fits that
profile; statewide, the rate is one in eight. For non-black males, the
Atlanta rate is one in 20; in Georgia, one in 18.

The majority of black men in the state prison system were convicted of
violating drug laws, Brooks said.

Because of what Brooks called "this political climate today in Georgia," the
new voting legislation will be difficult to pass, he said. Brooks and others
also are urging stepped-up voting rights education statewide and a review of
the impact of drug laws on black male voting.

In 13 states and the District of Columbia, probationers and parolees are
allowed to vote. If similar legislation succeeds here, Georgia would become
the first Southern state to allow probationers and parolees to vote.

Voting rights are automatically restored to Georgia felons who have
completed their full sentences.

Robin Templeton, executive director of the Right To Vote, a national, New
York-based organization that campaigns to end voting bans for felons, called
the study by the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization in Washington,
"a groundbreaking, historic study."

It targeted Atlanta and Georgia because the state maintains a sophisticated
database of people in prison and on parole and probation.

The wide gap between white and minority voter participation is largely due
to laws preventing felons from voting until they have completed their entire
sentences, Templeton said.

In Atlanta, nearly one-third of black males who are not registered to vote
are in jail or in the correctional system, she said.

In city neighborhoods with high percentages of black males who can't vote,
the political voice of the entire community is diluted. Voting, according to
study authors, is a social and cultural activity, fostered through
"political awareness, discussion and participation," according to the study
authors.

The risk is high that a community will feel alienated from electoral
politics because of ambiguity about voter registration and eligibility.

In one neighborhood south of I-20, in the 30316 ZIP code area, which
encompasses Eastland Heights and East Atlanta, more than 27 percent of black
males cannot vote because of felony convictions.

Other Atlanta ZIP codes also show high percentages of nonvoting black males
in the correctional system. The following shows some of the neighborhoods
that fall within those ZIP codes, which may include areas outside the city
limits.

North Buckhead, East Chastain Park, 20.8 percent (ZIP code 30342)

Blair Villa/Pool Creek, 18.7 percent (ZIP code 30354)

Druid Hills, Candler Park, Lake Claire, 15.9 percent (ZIP code 30307)

Edgewood/Kirkwood/East Lake, 14.8 percent (ZIP code 30317)

Georgia, one of 17 states that prohibits voting by parolees or probationers,
lies in the mid-range nationally, based on how each state restricts voting
by felons. Fourteen states have more restrictive laws; in some states, a
felony conviction can lead to the loss of voting rights for life. Nineteen
have less restrictive statutes.