State to appeal ruling granting voting rights to felons who owe fines

OLYMPIA – The state will appeal a King County judge's ruling that restores voting rights to convicted felons who have served their time but owe court-imposed fines, Attorney General Rob McKenna and Secretary of State Sam Reed announced today.

In a joint written statement, McKenna and Reed said each state has the right to "determine the process for restoring voting rights to felons."

"We believe a rational basis does exist for the Legislature to deny felons the right to vote until they have completed their entire court-ordered sentences, including payment of criminal penalties, victim's restitution, and legal fees, rather than separating out various sentencing aspects," they wrote.

King County Superior Court Judge Michael Spearman ruled Monday that the state's requirement that ex-felons pay all court-ordered fines and fees before they can vote again violates the equal-protection clauses in the U.S. Constitution and the state constitution.

"It is well recognized that there is simply no rational relationship between the ability to pay and the exercise of constitutional rights," he wrote in a 12-page ruling.

More than 250,000 ex-felons are unable to vote, about 3.7 percent of the state's population, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. It is uncertain how many of those are barred from voting solely because of outstanding court costs, though a state estimate four years ago calculated it to be more than 46,000. The Department of Corrections no longer collects that data.

The state ACLU filed the lawsuit of behalf of three convicted felons: Daniel Madison of King County, Beverly DuBois of Spokane County and Dannielle Garner of Snohomish County.

All three were making regular monthly payments on their court costs, but were indigent and unable to pay more than $10 to $20 a month, according to court records.

In a written statement after the ruling, Gov. Chris Gregoire said that while convicted felons still have a responsibility to their debt, "once they have served their time, withholding certain rights due to fines becomes a virtual debtors' prison."

Gregoire is not part of the appeal.

The issue of felon voters was a central one in the challenge to Gregoire's 2004 election, focusing heavily on illegal votes cast by felons who hadn't had their rights restored.

A judge ultimately upheld Gregoire's election, but he identified 1,678 illegal votes, many of them by felons.

The case is Daniel Madison, Beverly DuBois, and Dannielle Garner v. State of Washington, et al; No. 04-2-33414-4 SEA.