Staff Writer
Saturday, October 28, 2006
For the first time, a voter registration drive has been conducted within the confines of the Butler County Jail.
Now, Sheriff Richard K. Jones is hoping to convince state lawmakers to enact legislation to prohibit anyone convicted of a felony or misdemeanor from casting ballots.
County Board of Elections Deputy Director Betty McGary confirmed Friday that 157 Butler County Jail inmates filed new voter registration forms during a drive conducted by Gary Hines, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's branch serving Hamilton, Fairfield and West Chester and Liberty townships. Of those, 63 inmates then filed absentee ballots.
According to McGary, Ohio law currently prohibits voting by convicted felons while they are serving prison or jail time.
"Once they are released from prison, they would be required to register in order to vote," McGary said.
However, the law does allow absentee voting among eligible citizens who are serving time for misdemeanor offenses, or those who are awaiting trial for any offense.
"It is our understanding that, assisted by jail staff, Mr. Hines provided voter registration forms only to those inmates who the law does allow to vote," McGary said.
Hines called the cellblock voter registration drive part of an overall program designed to help inmates become responsible community members upon their release from jail.
"These people are still citizens," Hines said. "This is part of making a person whole again and helping them re-enter into society. Just the process of that responsibility of voting gives them a better understanding of citizenship and its responsibilities."
But the sheriff has a different term for the program — "The Lollipop Syndrome."
"Mr. Hines is a very nice man and he does very good work in the community, but this is something we definitely disagree about," Jones said. "I don't believe we should be handing lollipops out to anybody who's been convicted of a crime, misdemeanor or felony.
"Staying out of jail in the first place, and not committing crimes, makes you a responsible citizen. Working, paying your taxes and not going to jail ... that's a responsible citizen
"Right now, the law allows certain inmates to vote, and I have to abide by the law," Jones said. "But that doesn't stop me from doing what I can to get that law changed."
Jones has scheduled a meeting with state Rep. Courtney Combs, R-Hamilton, to discuss the possibility of proposing new legislation that would prohibit any convicted inmate from voting while incarcerated.
Additionally, Jones wants voting rights permanently stripped from those convicted of felony offenses.
"Being able to vote is a privilege and should not be given to convicted persons, period," Jones said. "What's next, inmates as candidates?"
For Hines, a summer voter registration drive in the jail is among the items on the NAACP's agenda.
"We were very well received by the inmates during this first registration drive," Hines said. "The jail staff was very cooperative and helpful and I can see us doing this type of voter registration drive twice a year."
Because the jail inmates do not have access to private postal receptacles, but rather have their mail filtered through a central mail room before going to the post office, McGary said the absentee ballots cast by inmates were personally delivered and collected by elections staff.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2192 or mlolli@coxohio.com.
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Hamilton-Journal News Editorial
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
In two years, Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones has become a popular figure in some circles — thanks to his aggressive stance against illegal immigrants, his Katrina relief effort, and more recently because he tangled with an AK Steel official — but we hope he doesn't believe his popularity gives him the political capital to suggest depriving Americans of their rights.
His latest idea? After the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People helped eligible inmates at the county jail register to vote, Jones has concluded that Ohio needs a law that would prohibit any convicted inmate from voting while incarcerated. Current law prohibits voting by convicted felons while they are in prison, but Jones wants state lawmakers to expand that to include those convicted of misdemeanors, too, and also wants convicted felons to lose their voting rights permanently. So much for paying your debt to society.
Jones is treading into tricky territory here and leaving himself open to charges of racism. It's bad enough that his idea follows a registration drive by the local NAACP, but Jones — of all people — should know that this measure would significantly affect a disproportionate number of black Americans.
The organization Human Rights Watch reports that 44 percent of all prisoners in the United States are black, even though blacks account for only 12 percent of the U.S. population. In Ohio, more than half of prison inmates are black, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. It's not difficult to see who Jones, a Republican, would like to disfranchise.
Jones described the NAACP registration program as "the Lollipop Syndrome." "I don't believe we should be handing lollipops out to anybody who's been convicted of a crime, misdemeanor or felony," Jones said.
Whether the sheriff likes it or not, imprisoned Americans are citizens of the country, too, and as such, are entitled to their rights. Suggesting that enabling eligible inmates to exercise their right to vote is a favor to them — something to be taken away, like candy or the cable television he's unplugged — reveals the flaw in Jones' thinking.
Of course, the public's reaction to Jones' latest brainstorm depends on whether you think prisoners surrender all rights when they're convicted and are to be shunned forever — or whether you believe in forgiveness and rehabilitation. We think most agree with the latter, but we fear our sheriff has found another hot button he can try to exploit.