Prop 17

Official Arguments (click ▸ to expand)

California Proposition 17, Voting Rights Restoration for Persons on Parole Amendment (2020) - Ballotpedia

California Proposition 17, the Voting Rights Restoration for Persons on Parole Amendment, is on the ballot in California as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020. Proposition 17 is a constitutional amendment that would allow people on parole for felony convictions to vote in California.

ballotpedia.org

✅ San Francisco Chronicle

"Would restore voting rights of people on parole who have finished their state or federal prison terms."

Editorial: Let parolees vote in California. Vote Yes on Prop. 17.

After having served their time in prison, released inmates are back in the world, ready to work, settle into society and resume life. But they can't vote as long as they remain on post-prison parole. Proposition 17 would lift that unwarranted restriction. Since 1974, California has allowed felons who completed parole to vote.

www.sfchronicle.com

✅ The San Diego Union-Tribune

"Yes on Prop. 17: Help felons reintegrate into society by letting them vote.

People who make mistakes shouldn’t be given up on."

Endorsement: Yes on Prop. 17: Help felons reintegrate into society by letting them vote

As illustrated by the criticism that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has faced over his support for tough anti-crime laws while a Delaware senator in the late 20th century, the idea that the criminal justice system should harshly judge lawbreakers used to be close to a bipartisan consensus.

www.sandiegouniontribune.com

✅ American Civil Liberties Union SoCal

"Vote to restore voting rights for people reentering.

Prop 17 will restore voting rights to 50,000 people in California who are returning home after finishing their prison term. It allows them to reintegrate into society and have a say in our democracy. Vote YES on Prop 17 to help reverse a racist form of voter suppression that disproportionately locks Black and brown voters out of the ballot box. It’s time to free the vote."

✅ Los Angeles Times

"In California, felons who have served their time in prison are denied the right to vote until they finish their parole. That’s an obstacle they don’t need as they reintegrate into society."

Endorsement: Yes on Proposition 17: Parolees deserve the right to vote

It should be a fundamental principle of justice that anyone convicted of a crime, having served their sentence, has the right to fully rejoin society. Sadly, in a nation that has the world's highest incarceration rate, this point has to be made again and again.

www.latimes.com

✅ The Mercury News

"Proposition 17 would extend voting rights to people on parole. We urge support to show respect and encouragement to fellow Californians who are trying to rebuild their lives."

Editorial: Who should be allowed to cast a ballot in California?

Get editorials, opinion columns, letters to the editor and more in your inbox weekday mornings. Sign up for the Bay Area Opinion newsletter. California voters will be asked in the Nov. 3 election to expand the pool of state residents who can cast ballots. Proposition 17 would extend voting rights to people on parole.

www.mercurynews.com

✅ Orange County Register

"Parolees who have done their time should have their voting rights restored."

Yes on Proposition 17, No on Proposition 18

Just as we celebrate the centennial of American women gaining the right to vote, two California ballot measures this fall also deal with the commendable goal of increasing suffrage - of allowing, and encouraging, more people to be able to go to the polls and participate in our democracy.

www.ocregister.com

🚫 The Desert Sun

“Rather than additional punishment, we see maintaining the status quo that prevents a parolee from voting until completion of that obligation as encouragement that, added to rehabilitation and other social programs offered, will help successfully reintegrate these persons into society. The average parole period in California is about three years. This is not an undue burden.”

Editorial: Felons should complete parole before regaining vote. No on Prop 17

Endorsements are decided by the Editorial Board, which operates independently of the Desert Sun news staff. The Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Al Franco, Executive Editor Julie Makinen, Desert Sun Staff Member Darby Wright and community members Gloria Franz, Becky Kurtz, Terria Smith and Rob Moon.

www.desertsun.com

✅ California Democratic Party

"Restores voting rights to Californians who have completed their prison term. Free the Vote!"

Home - Yes On 17

Prop 17 will amend the California Constitution so that Californians who have completed their prison term can fully participate in our democracy by restoring their right to vote. Nearly 50,000 Californians who have returned home from prison can't vote even though they are raising families, holding jobs, paying taxes, and contributing to society in every other way.

yeson17.vote

🚫 GOP

"Allows Felons to Vote

Prop 17 allows felons convicted of murder, rape, sexual abuse against children, kidnapping, assault, and human trafficking the right to vote before completing their sentence, including parole."