Senate GOP Leader Concerned by Senate Democrats Renewed Effort to Legalize Voting for Felons

State Senate Republican Leader Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, expressed concern that Democrats in the Oklahoma State Senate may again attempt to legalize voting for convicted felons who are on probation or parole.

Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre, D-Tulsa, has introduced Senate Bill 1042, a bill similar to a measure she introduced in 2005, which would restore voting rights to convicted felons who are on probation or parole.

Senate Republicans believe felons should serve their full sentence. An important part of a convicted felons punishment is losing the right to vote until he has full paid his debt to society, Coffee said. This Democrat bill might be good news for convicted felons, but it is bad news for Oklahoma families.

During the 2005 legislative session Eason McIntyres Senate Bill 662 was defeated by a 7 to 4 margin in the Senates General Government Committee. All six Republicans on the committee opposed Eason McIntyres bill, while four Democrat senators Randy Bass (Lawton), Tom Adelson (Tulsa), Charles Wyrick (Fairland), and Chairman Earl Garrison (Muskogee) voted for it. One Democrat senator was absent and missed the vote.

Perhaps Senate Democrats believe their best chance to maintain their slim majority in 2006 is by increasing the turnout of convicted felons at the polls. Why else would they be supportive of something as nonsensical as this? Coffee queried.