Letter to Michael Bennett, Chair of the District of Columbia Board of Elections - Voting Eligibility of D.C. Offenders

Letter

Dear Chairman Bennett:

I write to request that the District of Columbia Board of Elections (BOE) provide written clarification on the eligibility of certain D.C. residents to vote. My office was alerted on Election Day this year to reports that D.C. residents in Hope Village, our local residential reentry facility, were not being given permission to leave to go vote. My understanding is that there was confusion about whether certain Hope Village residents were considered "incarcerated felons" for the purposes of voting eligibility. Specifically, I would like to know whether people serving felony sentences outside of a penitentiary (e.g., in a residential reentry facility or those on home confinement) are eligible to vote.

The portion of the relevant statute (DC Code § 1-1001.02 and 3 DCMR 3-500) defines a "qualified elector" as someone who "is not incarcerated for a crime that is a felony in the District," among other qualifications. On Election Day, my office received oral guidance from BOE that D.C. residents serving felony sentences outside of a penitentiary are indeed "qualified electors" who are eligible to vote. While the issue at Hope Village may have been rectified before the polls closed, I believe it is imperative that BOE provide written guidance so that this confusion is cleared up before the next election.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton

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