March 2020 Bar Bulletin
By Jaime Hawk
Under current law, not all citizens have the right to vote when released from incarceration. Washington prohibits those convicted of felonies from voting while incarcerated or while they remain under Department of Corrections (DOC) community custody.1 This means that no one currently in prison or released from prison but still under DOC supervision can vote. DOC currently supervises approximately 20,000 people who reside in communities around the state.2
Recently the KCBA Public Policy Committee drafted a resolution supporting the right to vote for everyone who is formerly incarcerated in our state. The resolution was adopted by the KCBA Board of Trustees at the January...