ACLU Files suit Over “Modern Poll Tax”

(AP) – People who have completed prison terms for felony convictions but are still denied the right to vote because of court-related debt are victims of a “modern form of the poll tax,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington says. The ACLU filed suit last Thursday in King County Superior Court on behalf of five such plaintiffs. Under state law, those convicted of felonies cannot vote, even after completing their sentences, until they pay off debts to the legal system imposed at sentencing — obligations that can include docket and filing fees, court costs, restitution and incarceration costs, plus 12 percent interest. The complaint contends that violates voting rights guarantees in the state and U.S. constitutions. According to state data, more than 90 percent of felony defendants are indigent when they are charged. “Washington must end this modern form of the poll tax,” said Kathleen Taylor, ACLU of Washington executive director, referring to fees once charged by some southern states for the right to vote, a means of discouraging poor black voters. “The state should not hold hostage the right to vote in order to collect legal-system debts,” Taylor said. The lawsuit does not challenge the former inmates’ liability for the debts, but asks that the right to vote not be limited by their personal finances. More than 150,000 state residents can’t vote because of a prior felony conviction, according to the public policy Sentencing Project. Felons lose their voting rights on conviction, but after serving their sentences can seek restoration of those rights. The complicated process discourages many, said ACLU spokesman Doug Honig. In 2002, the most recent year for which numbers are available, 46,500 felons were barred from seeking restoration of their voting rights because of legal financial obligations, according to the state Department of Corrections. The ACLU identified the plaintiffs as Dan Madison, Sebrina Moore and Larence Bolden of King County, Beverly DuBois of Spokane County and Dannielle Garner of Snohomish County.