Felon Voting Rules in Play: NH on Liberal End of Spectrum

Within months, the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature acted to limit the effect of the initiative — passing a measure to allow voting only by formerly incarcerated felons who have paid off all court-imposed fees, which in some cases amount to tens of thousands of dollars. Voting rights advocates say the action undermined the will of the people and in effect created a “poll tax,” harking back to the Jim Crow-era laws that used voting fees as a way to suppress blacks from casting ballots. “For far too many individuals, access to the ballot is determined by their ability to pay,” Danielle Lang, senior legal counsel at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, said.

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