By Gil Halsted, Wisconsin Public Radio  

MADISON (WPR) A bill to grant voting rights to people on parole or probation got a hearing in the state legislature Thursday (8/27).

If approved, the bill would enfranchise approximately 40,000 people, many of them African-Americans.  It would repeal restrictions enacted in the 1960's denying voting rights to parolees.  Milwaukee state representative Tamara Grigsby says the change would erase a restriction that dates back to the Jim Crow laws designed to prevent blacks from voting.  Grigsby says it seems like those laws are still in place, but notes that since 1997, 18 states have made “progressive changes” to their ex-offender disenfranchisement laws . She says the simple act of voting makes ex-offenders feel more connected to their communities and is an important step towards their rehabilitation.

Opponents of the measure are worried that parolees who are revoked just before an election, may try to vote absentee. But state elections board director Kevin Kennedy says current state laws would prevent that.  Kennedy also says allowing ex -felons to vote would actually save about $13,000 by eliminating the need to generate lists of ex-felons for poll workers to check.

The last felon voting bill failed to pass in the previous legislative session but appears to be gaining momentum with the new Democratic majority. It's likely that by the next statewide election voter rolls will include people who have swerved time in jail but are still on probation or parole.

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Information from Wisconsin Public Radio, www.wpr.org