Norton Requests Clarification on Voting Eligibility of D.C. Offenders Finishing Felony Sentences Outside of a Penitentiary

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today released her letter to the District of Columbia Board of Elections (BOE) asking for written clarification on whether D.C. residents serving felony sentences outside of a penitentiary are eligible to vote. After Norton received a report that some D.C. residents at Hope Village Residential Reentry Center had been denied permission to leave the facility to vote on Election Day this year, she placed a call to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), which has jurisdiction over federal halfway houses, including those in the District, to clear up what appeared to be confusion about who is eligible to register and vote in the District. Although Hope Village officials eventually granted passes to residents who desired to cast ballots, Norton says BOE should provide official written guidance so that this confusion is cleared up before the next election.

In her letter, Norton wrote, “My office was alerted on Election Day this year to reports that D.C. residents in Hope Village, our local residential reentry facility, were not being given permission to leave to go vote. My understanding is that there was confusion about whether certain Hope Village residents were considered “incarcerated felons” for the purposes of voting eligibility. Specifically, I would like to know whether people serving felony sentences outside of a penitentiary (e.g., in a residential reentry facility or those on home confinement) are eligible to vote.”

Norton’s full letter is below.

Michael Bennett
Chair
District of Columbia Board of Elections
441 4th Street NW, Suite 250 North
Washington, DC 20001

Dear Chairman Bennett:

I write to request that the District of Columbia Board of Elections (BOE) provide written clarification on the eligibility of certain D.C. residents to vote. My office was alerted on Election Day this year to reports that D.C. residents in Hope Village, our local residential reentry facility, were not being given permission to leave to go vote. My understanding is that there was confusion about whether certain Hope Village residents were considered “incarcerated felons” for the purposes of voting eligibility. Specifically, I would like to know whether people serving felony sentences outside of a penitentiary (e.g., in a residential reentry facility or those on home confinement) are eligible to vote.

The portion of the relevant statute (DC Code § 1-1001.02 and 3 DCMR 3-500) defines a “qualified elector” as someone who “is not incarcerated for a crime that is a felony in the District,” among other qualifications. On Election Day, my office received oral guidance from BOE that D.C. residents serving felony sentences outside of a penitentiary are indeed “qualified electors” who are eligible to vote. While the issue at Hope Village may have been rectified before the polls closed, I believe it is imperative that BOE provide written guidance so that this confusion is cleared up before the next election.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton