California voters moved to pass Proposition 17, a measure that would restore voting rights to formerly incarcerated individuals on parole. Polls are closed, and results are now coming in.
The vast majority of states restrict voting rights to those incarcerated or serving out sentences for felony convictions. California was one of just three states, along with Connecticut and Louisiana, to restrict voting rights for those on parole but not probation, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, probation "refers to adult offenders whom courts place on supervision in the community through a probation agency, generally in lieu of incarceration" while parole "refers to criminal offenders who are conditionally released from prison to serve the remaining portion of their sentence in the community."
Over the past decade, many states have reenfranchised hundreds of thousands of individuals with felony convictions either with ballot initiatives, like in Florida's case, or with gubernatorial executive orders, as governors in Iowa, Kentucky, and Virginia have done.
The language of Proposition 17 as it appeared on the ballot:
"Restores voting rights upon completion of prison term to persons who have been disqualified from voting while serving a prison term.
Fiscal Impact: Annual county costs, likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars statewide, for voter registration and ballot materials. One-time state costs, likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, for voter registration cards and systems."
