By Marsha Shuler
The Advocate
LOUISIANA — Prisoners in jails across the state are eligible to vote absentee in Louisiana fall elections as long as they have not been convicted of a crime.
That’s according to a legal opinion issued by state Attorney General Charles Foti’s office.
State Sen. Charles D. Jones, D-Monroe, sought the legal guidance from Foti, saying every eligible resident should be able to exercise his or her right to vote, and prisoners are no exception.
Jones has long advocated that mayors, chiefs of police and sheriffs make voting available to inmates awaiting trial.
The 2007 Legislature, at Jones behest, adopted a resolution urging mayors, police chiefs and sheriffs “to make available the opportunity for every person who is incarcerated, but not convicted of a crime, the right to vote absentee in all elections.”
Officials of law enforcement agencies contacted Tuesday said they did not know how many inmates may fall into the voter eligible category.
State law “clearly provides that each person, whether incarcerated or not, has the ‘right’ to vote unless that person is currently under order of imprisonment for a felony” or legally found mentally incompetent, Assistant Attorney General William Bryan wrote.
Bryan wrote that prisoners can vote by absentee ballot if they are registered voters who participated in an election prior to their jailing.
It gets more complicated if the individual registers to vote by mail, because the inmate would have to appear in person to verify he is who he says he is either at the registrar of voters office or at the polls, Bryan wrote. “Currently, there is no exception provided for those who cannot make the required personal appearance due to incarceration,” Bryan concluded.
Louisiana Sheriffs Association executive director Hal Turner said it’s usually up to the inmate to solicit the absentee ballot from elections officials. He said he doesn’t know of any sheriffs who are taking inmates to local registrars office to vote.
“Inmates have those (voting) rights. You are innocent until proven guilty,” Turner said.
Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters Sandra Wilson said she and Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff Marlon Gusman worked out an absentee voting system for those in parish jail for a May parish election.
Wilson said 24 inmates participated after verification that they were eligible to vote in Orleans Parish and had not been convicted of a felony. Gusman had to certify that the inmates were not under order of imprisonment, she said.
Copyright 2007 Capital City Press