Pennsylvania HR 47 is a 2023 Resolution directing the Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission to conduct a study on voting patterns and knowledge about voting rights among formerly incarcerated qualified electors in Pennsylvania and submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives. In response to this study, The Pennsylvania Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (PARSOL) surveyed formerly incarcerated members (n=61). The results shed a startling light on the challenges facing justice-involved individuals in exercising their fundamental right to vote, despite the absence of legal restrictions in Pennsylvania.
Finding 1: Voter Registration and Civic Engagement High
Most participants had registered to vote prior to their incarceration (87.93%). After being released from incarceration, 93% of participants stated they planned to vote. 65.52% of participants say that their involvement in the justice system increased their desire to participate in the electoral process.
Finding 2: Disenfranchisement High
Pennsylvania has no law or policy denying individuals their right to vote once they are released from incarceration. More than half (54.2%) of reentrants were told that their criminal history prevented them from voting. Of those:
- 25% believed this and did not vote instead.
- 40% knew that this was not true.
- 35% researched their rights and found out that it was untrue.
- 73% of those who were told they could not vote by someone, asked their supervising officer who clarified they could vote.
- Of great concern is the 26.02% who were told they were not allowed to vote by a Department of Corrections employee, parole officer, or probation officer.
Finding 3: Proximity Restrictions are a Significant Barrier to In-Person Voting
Parole and Probation Regulations, at federal, state, and county levels, often impose proximity restrictions on individuals with crimes of a sexual nature. Frequently the locations individuals cannot be within a certain distance of, such as schools, public libraries, or parks are the same public venues used as polling places.
Approximately 23% of respondents stated that voting in-person at their polling place would cause them to violate the terms of their supervised release and could send them back to incarceration. Of these, 15.4% ended up not voting, 7.7% had to receive a special permit from their supervising officer to vote in person, and 76.92% were forced to vote using an absentee or mail-in ballot, stating they were “unable to appear in person” on Election Day.
Additional Feedback
Survey respondents were given the opportunity to provide feedback about their related experiences. These responses include:
- I was threatened with incarceration/violation of my conditions if I voted while on parole.
- The halfway house I was staying at upon release said that voting was not something you could be off property for.
- When I was released on parole my officer told me I would never have the right to vote again.
- I don’t vote anymore because my polling place is at a school, and I prefer to do my voting in person. All I want to do is vote and leave but can’t under supervision.
Our Recommendations
- Provide an easy-to-understand document about their voting rights to every reentrant upon release from incarceration.
- Enact laws/policies that require parole and probation to make accommodations for supervised persons to vote.
- Include information in SORNA correspondence from the Pennsylvania State Police (sent to remind all registrants about their registration deadline) about voting rights, processes, a voter registration form, and how to vote by mail.
- Enact a law making it illegal for a reentry housing provider to deny an eligible elector time to vote.
- Provide voting rights education for reentrants as required training at least twice annually for all correctional personnel including correctional officers, parole, and probation agents at state and county levels.
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