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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Ronald G. Waters |
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Committee approves Waters bill to provide voter registration
information to inmates upon release
HARRISBURG, May 15 -- The House State Government Committee this week approved legislation reintroduced by Rep. Ronald G. Waters, D-Phila./Delaware, that would require each state and county correctional facility to provide inmates with voter registration materials upon their release from prison.
Waters said his legislation is meant to allow released inmates to reconnect with their community upon returning home.
"It's important that we help people re-enter society and become part of it again by making sure they register to vote," Waters said. "I believe this can help them become more civic-oriented and feel like they're part of the democratic process."
Waters said a similar bill was adopted in Louisiana in 2008. It requires that state's Department of Public Safety and Corrections to provide former inmates with voter registration applications and notify individuals leaving their supervision about how to regain their voting rights. Georgia's Department of Corrections provides an educational brochure and voting rights restoration fact sheet to each incarcerated person when he or she is released.
The legislation now awaits consideration by the full House.
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