WA: Victory for People Opposed to Felony "Poll Tax"

In a victory for people who support voting rights, a King County Superior Court judge this week ruled against Washington State's policy of withholding the right to vote from people who are unable to pay off fines related to criminal convictions. The judge ordered that the three people named in the suit are allowed to register to vote. The state has announced its plan to appeal, although the Governor (the original defendant in the lawsuit) is not named in the appeal.

At the heart of this case, filed in late 2004 by the Washington ACLU, is the issue of fairness. Washington's laws allow for some people with felony convictions to regain their right to vote after completing their sentences. But people without the means to pay off legal financial obligations (LFOs), lose the right to vote. In his ruling, Judge Michael Spearman said,

It is well recognized that there is simply no rational relationship between the ability to pay and the exercise of constitutional rights. 

...the Washington re-enfranchisement scheme which denies the right to vote to one group of felons, while granting that right to another, where the sole distinction between the two groups is the ability to pay money, violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, Sections 12 and 19 of the Washington State Constitution and is constitutionally impermissible. 

This ruling addresses only one of several concerns about how Washington has created a broad, confusing system of disenfranchising people with felony convictions. There were bills in the 2006 state legislature that would follow the example of a number of states (including Oregon) where anyone who is not confined in a prison may register and vote. Neither the house version (HB 2873) nor senate version (SB 6651) passed in the short session, but are likely to be reintroduced in 2007.

This newbrief is based on several sources, including Voting rights of felons at issue in the Settle Post Intelligencer; articles from the Seattle Times Limits on Felon voting rights eased and State to appeal ruling granting voting rights to felons to owe fines; the opinion delivered by the King County Superior Court; and information from the Washington ACLU.