Judge: Wash.'s felon inmates have rights to vote
WASHOUGAL, Wash. - A ruling by a federal appeals court Tuesday to allow incarcerated felons to vote in the state of Washington outraged a Clark County couple because their daughter’s murderer would be able to exercise a right their daughter will never be able to.
“Why in jail, in prison? Why? I just don’t understand it, it makes no sense,” said Kerry Crane, whose daughter, Erin Wilson, was murdered in Vancouver in 2007.
“You’re convicted of a felony, that’s it,” said Erin’s father Steve.
The Cranes have more reason than most to be outraged at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. Erin’s estranged husband, Larry Van Schaick, pleaded guilty this past year to murdering Erin and is serving a 14-year sentence.
The Cranes said that just the thought of him being able to vote is especially aggravating because Erin’s voter card arrived in their mailbox shortly after her murder.
“It was like, ‘Oh, here’s Erin’s voter card’, you know,” said Kerry. “But she’ll never get to vote. So we had to throw it away. So why should he have the right to vote? Why should he have a say in anything that society is doing?”
The 9th Circuit Court ruled that since there’s a disproportionate number of minorities in Washington prisons, taking away their voting rights is discrimination, but Washington’s Secretary of State Sam Reed said he plans to appeal.
“If somebody violates their social contract, commits a felony, is sent to prison, then the people have a right to say, ‘you’re denied your rights as citizens’, including voting,” he said.
“We do not have much of a history of racial discrimination, so if it can happen here it can basically happen anywhere in the country,” said Vancouver attorney Brent Boger.
Almost every state, including Oregon, has similar limits. In Oregon, felons automatically get their voting rights back when they leave prison.