AMERICAN – Felony vote issue deserves hearing
The Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman is full of convicted felons. It also is full of voters. Being convicted of a felony and even being in jail doesn’t necessarily remove one’s right to vote in Mississippi. It depends on what kind of felony.
State Rep. Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, says it is a matter that should be addressed by the Legislature before the next election.
Out of the 24,897 felons incarcerated in Mississippi state prisons, only 6,685, or 26 percent, could not vote. The other 18,212, or 73 percent, are eligible to vote and many do, according to Snowden.
There are 21 specific crimes for which one loses his or her right to vote: arson, armed robbery, bigamy, bribery, embezzlement, extortion, felony bad check, felony shoplifting, forgery, larceny, murder, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, rape, receiving stolen property, robbery, theft timber larceny, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, statutory rape and carjacking.
Hattiesburg-American
9/9/9
