AADCBC, NAACP Speaks Out Against Ex-Felon Voting Errors — Ron Kipling Williams

On Friday, October 24th, the African American Democratic Club of Baltimore City (AADCBC) and the NAACP Baltimore Chapter held a press conference demanding the correction of an error-riddled letter from the Baltimore City Board of Elections to 423 citizens in order to ensure that the people in question can become eligible to vote. Representatives and supporters stood in front of the Benton Building on Fayette Street, where the Board of Elections Office is housed, to address their concerns.

“We have to make sure politics will not destroy the elections,” said AADCBC President CD Witherspoon.

The letter that the 423 citizens received stated that the City Board received their voter registration applications, but perhaps they may be ineligible due to a felony conviction on their record.

“The right to vote is a matter of fairness and democracy,” says Kim Haven, Executive Director of Justice Maryland. “It has nothing to do with criminal justice.”

In 2007 the Maryland State General Assembly passed a bill re-instating the right to vote for ex-felons. “To continue disenfranchisement is no longer acceptable,” said Haven.

The letter in question states that ex-felons who wish to vote are required to “a) immediately call the Board office to correct any discrepancies to satisfy eligibility b) will be permanently disqualified if convicted of buying or selling votes without a pardon from the Governor c) complete court-ordered sentence of imprisonment, including parole or probation.”

However, no phone number, contact person or signature was included in the letter. In fact, the letter was not even dated.

Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke was present and stated: “If you do the time, you have the right to participate. We want them to be voting. They are part of our society.”

NAACP President Doc Cheatham received a fax of the letter on September 17th from Glenn Woodson of the Northwest Career Center. He immediately called the Attorney General’s office to have an emergency meeting addressing the issue.

Armed with the letter, Cheatham and League of Women Voters met with the Attorney General’s Office that following Monday. They discovered, to their surprise, that although the office represents the state and city Boards of Elections, they can only serve in an advisory role, delegating the responsibility to the state. The State Board in turn said they could only suggest to the City Board to correct the letter.

The City Board then said that since they did not receive a directive from the state, they had no responsibility to take any action on the letter.

The NAACP was successful in assisting one applicant who contacted their office to have his canceled application activated. City officials, according to Cheatham, have 422 to go.

“It doesn’t take rocket science to correct this,” says Cheatham. “We will either legislate or litigate.”

In 2006 the NAACP took the City Board to court and won for not extending the hours for one third of the city’s polling places—about 30—that were late in opening, forcing the Board to extend its hours.

State Sen. Verna L. Jones responded to these recent developments saying, “I would hate to think about voter disenfranchisement, but it is a reality.”

Israel Cason, CEO of I Can We Can – a nonprofit comprehensive addiction recovery service organization - who himself is an ex-felon - spoke at the press conference.

“We are living on a double standard,” Cason said. “We pay taxes, we should vote. Everywhere you delay justice, you deny justice. We paid our dues. We have the right to vote.”