HARRISBURG – A package of bills allowing incarcerated felons to vote via absentee ballot is being offered by Philadelphia County Rep. Stephen Kinsey. One removes the provision that denies an individual who has been incarcerated for a felony conviction within the last five years the ability to register to vote. It also allows all registered voters confined to correctional facilities to apply for an absentee ballot. The second updates the definition of a qualified absentee elector to include those who can not go to their polling place on Election Day due to serving their sentence. PA is one of several states that fully restores the rights of all incarcerated individuals after release from confinement. PA would join with Maine and Vermont as states that permit convicted felons to vote while incarcerated.
REP. STEPHEN KINSEY