WEST virginia legislature

2019 regular session

Introduced

Senate Bill 236

By Senators Lindsay, Jeffries, and Baldwin

[Introduced January 10, 2019; Referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §62-12-30, relating to notification of the renewed right to vote for a person previously under conviction of treason, felony, or bribery in an election; requiring such persons to be notified within one week of completing their full punishment or receiving a pardon; and detailing which agencies are responsible for providing the notice.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 12. Probation and Parole.

§62-12-30. Notification of right to vote.

Pursuant to section one, article IV of the West Virginia Constitution, “[t]he citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote at all elections held within the counties in which they respectively reside; but no person . . . who is under conviction of treason, felony or bribery in an election . . . shall be permitted to vote while such disability continues[.]” Consistent with this right to vote, the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia’s Division of Probation Services, working in partnership with the Secretary of State, shall ensure that every person convicted of treason, felony or bribery in an election who loses their voting rights while under conviction is provided with a voter registration form and notification of their restored right to vote within one week of completing their full punishment or receiving a pardon from the Governor, whichever occurs first.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide notice and an opportunity to persons convicted of certain crimes that they are eligible to vote after completion of their punishment.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.