JACKSON - Victor Andrews says he didn't truly appreciate the privilege of voting until he lost it.
Andrews, 48, of Jackson, was disenfranchised after he was convicted in 1995 of burglary and shoplifting in Hinds County. He was released from prison in 1998 and served four years' probation.
Since then, he's gotten married, begun working for Canadian National Railroad and, as of this spring, regained his suffrage rights.
"The ability to get back into society, to do things I was raised to do, was something I looked forward to," Andrews said.
Under state law, a person convicted of a felony cannot vote in elections. To regain voting rights, a petition must be filed with the Legislature. Questions have been raised about the process. Critics accuse lawmakers of arbitrarily granting approval.
Lawmakers, who are in a special session, are considering a voter identification bill that has a provision that would allow first-time, nonviolent offenders to automatically restore voting rights after completing their sentence and probation.
A previous bill died in the regular session. That bill would have restored voting rights for nonviolent offenders two years after completing their probation.
Rep. Tommy Reynolds, D-Charleston, chairman of the House Apportionment and Elections Committee, said the Mississippi law is antiquated and has been unfairly applied in some instances.
"For them never to be able to vote because they cashed a bad check when they were 17 years old … that isn't the way we want to handle that," Reynolds said.
Senate Elections Chairman Bobby Chamberlin, R-Hernando, said lawmakers are studying the laws of other states.
"We've looked at it because it is an issue that has been expressed to us as important to a number of people who feel improperly disenfranchised," Chamberlin said.
Mississippi's laws are among the most restrictive in the nation, said Ryan King, associate researcher for the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based organization that works with other groups to encourage reconsideration of disenfranchisement policies.
Nationally, more than 4 million Americans are denied the right to vote as a result of laws that prohibit voting by felons or ex-felons, according to the Sentencing Project. The group said black men are disproportionately affected due to racial disparities in the justice system.
Ryan said data compiled by his group show that as of Dec. 31, 2000, the number of people disenfranchised in Mississippi as a result of felony convictions was 119,943. Of the figure, 76,106 were black, which represents 11.3 percent of the state's voting-age black population.
He said a number of states are revisiting their laws. Last year, Alabama passed a law that allows most felons in that state to apply for approval from the parole board to vote.
"Litigation is also a significant component for change," Ryan said.
Lawsuits in Washington state, Florida, New York and New Jersey are challenging policies of disenfranchisement, he said.
Joe Mitchell Porter Jr., 27, of Laurel, was among those whose suffrage petition was denied this legislative session. Porter was convicted of kidnapping and armed robbery in 1996 in Jones County. Porter, who is disabled from a shooting, served a mandatory seven-year sentence. He was released is January 2003.
Porter's mother, Faye Jackson, said the denial "breaks my heart. It's not right. He's paid his dues. He gets so discouraged."
Porter said he'll try again next year.
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