Colorado Inmates v State of Colorado
ACLU Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Inmates
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Colorado state law barring thousands of people on parole from voting or registering to vote.
A volunteer attorney handling the case said the statute violates the state constitution, which he said bars prisoners from voting only if they are in prison. "The Colorado Supreme Court has said in several cases that when prisoners are released on parole, they have completed their term of imprisonment," he said.
The class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of an estimated 6,000 people in Colorado who are on parole.
Under Colorado law, felons are allowed to vote only if they are no longer in prison and are not on parole. Last year, the Secretary of State discovered 6,352 possible voter registration matches for felons, and county clerks were ordered to check the rolls for felons and flag them for poll judges.
The attorney said nationwide, as many as 5 million Americans are barred from voting by a variety of state laws that forbid convicted felons from voting for varying periods of time. Felons are kept from voting in every state but Maine and Vermont, though restrictions vary.
