Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Voting Rights topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate adopts second substitute to restore voting rights for qualifying felons
Summary
The Senate approved a second substitute to House Bill 190 clarifying when convicted felons can have voting rights restored — on completion of incarceration or by Board of Pardons, judge or probation condition — amid floor debate about administrative complexity; the measure passed overwhelmingly.
The Utah Senate on March 2 approved a second substitute to House Bill 190 that clarifies restoration of voting rights for certain convicted felons.
Senator Taylor, sponsor of the second substitute, told the chamber the change "makes it clear that a convicted felon who is out of prison, who is perhaps on parole or on probation may have his rights to vote restored." He and other senators described multiple pathways for restoration: by the Board of Pardons and Parole at a parole hearing, by a judge who suspends sentence and places a person on probation, or automatically upon successful completion of the term of incarceration to which the individual was committed.
Floor questions focused on administrative complexity: senators noted the challenges of tracking thousands of people on parole or probation and the need to simplify implementation. Senator Steiner and others said a simpler rule (for example, only excluding currently incarcerated individuals) would be administratively easier, but the second substitute was framed to provide several explicit restoration pathways.
After brief explanations and an exchange of concerns about burdensome recordkeeping, the Senate voted by roll call. The clerk announced: second substitute House Bill 190 had 27 aye votes, no nays and two absent. The bill was amended as indicated on the floor and returned to the House for concurrence/enrollment.
