Voting rights for incarcerated people likely to fall short in NY this year

A proposed constitutional amendment would make New York the third state to grant voting rights to every incarcerated person, regardless of whether they’ve been convicted of a felony.

But although the measure has the support of some key Democratic lawmakers, its sponsors in the state Legislature say it has little chance of passing before lawmakers leave the Capitol for the year in early June.

The proposed amendment was first introduced in 2019 and has never been put to a vote. It picked up some buzz earlier this month when the New York Post reported it was on a confidential list of measures the New York City Council’s Democratic majority hopes to see passed in Albany.

The bill's supporters say voting is a sacred right that everyone should have, regardless of whether they’re incarcerated. But it’s facing stiff opposition from Republicans, who say losing the ability to vote while in prison is an appropriate consequence for those serving a felony sentence.

“There's a history in this country, unfortunately, of depriving people based on their race or their identity or even their means from being able to vote,” said state Sen. Julia Salazar, the measure's sponsor. “This bill seeks to address that by finally restoring the right to vote to individuals when they're incarcerated.”

Voting rights for incarcerated people vary from state to state.

Vermont and Maine allow everyone in prison to vote. But in 10 other states, including Virginia and Wyoming, some people serving felony sentences forfeit their voting rights while incarcerated and for some time after completing their sentences, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

New York is somewhere in between.

Anyone who is awaiting trial or serving a misdemeanor sentence in jail, including at Rikers Island, is eligible to vote by absentee ballot. Since 2021, New York has also automatically granted voting rights to everyone upon their release from prison , regardless of whether they were convicted of a felony.

But those convicted of felonies who are actively serving a sentence in prison are ineligible to vote, due to language in the state constitution dating back to the 1800s that requires lawmakers to pass laws stripping voting rights from “all persons convicted of bribery or of any infamous crime.”

“It is a human rights issue,” said Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, a Manhattan Democrat who sponsors the measure. “Some people do bad things in the world — and they go to jail. That doesn't mean they should lose their right to vote or engage as a civic person in our state.”

Republicans say forfeiting suffrage rights is an appropriate penalty. They’ve been critical of a wide variety of criminal justice reforms at the state Capitol in recent years, accusing their Democratic counterparts of being soft on crime.

“Without consequences there is no incentive for anyone to obey the law,” said Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, a Nassau County Republican. “We, as elected officials, need to stop coddling criminals and focus on improving the lives of hardworking taxpayers who do follow the law.”

The amendment is supported by the chairs of the Legislature’s elections committees — Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Assemblymember Latrice Walker, both Brooklyn Democrats who penned a joint op-ed with Salazar and Epstein touting the measure last year.

On top of the long-shot chance for approval this legislative session, the measure would require changing the state constitution, a multiyear process. It requires the Legislature to pass an amendment in consecutively elected terms. From there, it would head to the ballot for a statewide referendum before voters.

But the measure’s sponsors both agree that it’s unlikely to get a vote before the end of the legislative session on June 6. Without an initial vote by the end of the calendar year, the absolute earliest an amendment could be finalized is 2027.

“I think it would be a very long shot to pass this session,” Esptein said. “I just think election years are complicated years, and I think people are more reticent during the election year to do things than they are in non-election years.”

All 213 state lawmakers are on the ballot in November.