Rhode Island: Vote for Felons


By Kate Zernike
Published June 29th 2005 in The New York Times
The State Senate approved a ballot question asking voters to consider a constitutional amendment that would allow felons to vote after they finish their prison terms. The measure, approved 27 to 8, will put the amendment on the ballot in November 2006. Now, as in many other states, former felons in Rhode Island may vote only after completing their probation and parole. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia allow felons to vote while on parole or probation; four others, including New York, allow them to vote while on probation, and Maine and Vermont extend the vote to prisoners as well.
IRV Soars in Twin Cities, FairVote Corrects the Pundits on Meaning of Election Night '09
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers.  Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections;  the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.

And as pundits try to make hay out of the national implications of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections, Rob Richie in the Huffington Post concludes that the gubernatorial elections have little bearing on federal elections.

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