Minnesota's criminal-justice system makes it hard to determine when a person convicted of a felony regains the right to vote, a state task force says.
For that reason, Gov. Mark Dayton's Task Force on Election Integrity has researched the system used in North Dakota and 13 other states. In those states, felons regain their right to vote once they leave prison. In Minnesota, felons must generally complete terms of probation before their voting rights are restored.
"Some felons are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections," said Joe Nunez, co-chair of the task force said of Minnesota's system. "Others report to county probation officers; still others report directly to the court." He noted that "even if you're convicted of a felony, whether you lose your voting rights depends upon the sentence you're given"
"No wonder there's significant confusion among the public, election judges, administrations and even individuals convicted of felonies, about who is or is not eligible to vote," Nunez said in a statement.
The Task Force said it will continue to study the pluses and minuses of the simpler North Dakota model, but is not yet recommending such a change to the Legislature.
