Maryland governer Larry Hogan vetoed a bill which would allow 40,000 felons currently on parole or probation to vote, a sad dehumanization of members of society who should have the right to be a part of their own future, in my opinion.

And luckily other members of Maryland senate agree with me and Hogan’s veto has been overturned.

Under current law felons on probation or parole must finish completely before being allowed to re-register to vote. However the new bill wanted to allow released felons to register right away. The governer vetoed that but the house of delegates and the senate have both voted to override that veto.

Here is an excerpt from an article on Fox Baltimore:

Senator Joanne Benson, a Democrat who represents Prince George’s County, urged her colleagues to override the veto. Benson says many ex-offenders are already trying hard to become productive members of society.

“Some of them have master’s degrees, have Ph.D’s. They are husbands, there are family men and they do not have the opportunity to vote.”

But several legislators, mostly Republicans, urged colleagues to sustain the Governor’s veto. Senator Robert Cassilly, who represents Harford and Cecil Counties, says, “Felons who are subject to this bill have not yet paid their debt to society. For us to pretend otherwise suggests that we no longer have respect for our nation’s laws.”

And the article went onto say:

Doug Mayer, Deputy Communications Director for Governor Hogan, issued a statement in response to the Senate vote.

“Today, 29 people in the Maryland Senate decided to ignore reason and common sense and support an action that the vast majority of Marylanders vehemently oppose. For too long, voters have been completely ignored by their elected representatives in Annapolis – it happened again today and our citizens deserve better.”

Now the law will officially go into effect on 10th March. This gives those impacted until 5th April to register for voting in Maryland for the Presidential Primary election on April 26.

Seeing as it was mostly republicans that went against this bill that probably means most released felons are presumed to be democrats in the long run.

See more in the video below:

What do you think of this bill?

Src: http://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/senate-overrides-hogan-veto-allowing-ex-felons-voting-rights