MN House Passes Bill Restoring Voting Rights To 55K Felons

ST. PAUL, MN — Approximately 55,000 residents could have their voting rights restored under a bill that passed the Minnesota House Thursday.

House File 79 was approved by a vote of 71-59 and now heads to the Democratically-controlled Minnesota Senate, where it also faces good odds of passage.

Under current Minnesota law, voting rights are not restored until a felon serves out not only their prison sentence, but also their parole, probation, or another form of supervised release.

"Currently in our state, it cannot be truly reflective and representative of all its people when certain voices continue to be shut out of the democratic process," said Rep. Cedrick Frazier in a statement last week. "It is well time to correct this issue."

Frazier's bill states that "an individual convicted of a felony has the civil right to vote restored when the individual is no longer incarcerated."

The bill protects a felon's voting rights if their sentence does not include prison time.

However, if a felon violates their parole or re-offends, their voting rights would again be stripped away until they're released from prison.

Republican opponents say there should be exceptions in the law, arguing that violent offenders and sexual predators should not get their voting rights restored until their full sentence is discharged.