In New Hampshire, people who have bene convicted of a felony are eligible to vote as soon as they are no longer incarcerated.
In some states, felons lose their voting rights indefinitely. Here, felons have no extra forms or process to go through. All they have to do is show up at the polls on Election Day and vote.
Melanie McDonough is a pollworker in Lebanon. She's served time for a felony conviction, and she recently wrote an op-ed for the Union Leader reminding Granite Staters that felons can vote in New Hampshire, and should be encouraged to do so.
NHPR's Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley spoke with McDonough about voting rights for formerly incarcerated people.
Rick Ganley: I know elections training varies by municipality. Was this something that ever came up during your training when you were becoming a pollworker?
Melanie McDonough: You know, it's not something I think that's covered outright. I may have asked the question. So now I don't know if that was part of my training or me just asking, but I think it's definitely coming up more often now. People are talking about it a little bit more. And, you know, it's really important for people to know that because we have a little bit of confusion.
I think people who have a felony conviction oftentimes ask, can I vote? They're just not sure. So the answer to every felon out there is you can vote. You don't even have to ask. If you're not in prison right at this moment, you can vote and you can walk in and you don't even have to mention that you're a felon. So just have that confidence. No one's going to ask you. It's not a box you have to check on a form.
If you're an election worker and someone comes up to you and asks, hey, I'm a felon, can I vote? The answer is just yes. If they're standing in front of you right there, you can be 100 percent sure. You don't have to pull out the law books. You can just be assured that, yes, they can vote. There doesn't need to be a discussion about whether they're on parole or probation or anything like that. The answer is just yes. So I think that that is the message that kind of needs to come through loud and clear for people.
Rick Ganley: What kind of barriers might there be for a formerly incarcerated person in general who's looking to exercise their right to vote this year?
Melanie McDonough: Right. So I think that's a good question. One of the barriers, I think, for felons is being able to have access to what you need to actually register to vote, meaning photo ID and proof of residency. Those can be difficult to come by depending on your circumstances.
It's a little bit difficult for me to speak on this because it's been a while since I've left prison myself. But I hope that they're doing a better job of at least having some sort of photo ID when you leave prison or access, because right now, being able to access the DMV is really tricky. They're far apart. And depending on where you are, you might not be able to have that transportation or even just the funds to be able to get that ID. So I can't speak 100 percent to where we are in that process, if felons are being given an ID, but that would be something I would hope the state would just automatically do that a felon shouldn't leave prison without some sort of identification.
And then being able to understand how to get the forms to show your residency. Many felons that are leaving prison aren't just going into, hey, I have my own apartment. Maybe they're going into rehab or a living situation that they might be unclear about. And so that can be a bit of a barrier, just getting those documents.
Rick Ganley: And of course, many voters this fall are looking to submit absentee ballots. Does that add any additional challenges, voting by mail?
Melanie McDonough: I think it's challenging for everybody to know exactly what they're supposed to be doing. But basically what they need to do is just go to their city or town clerk. And they can do that by calling a number of their city or town clerk, and they should be able to walk them through, you know, what the requirements are. And if they have special circumstances like, hey, I'm not sure about what documents I need, they should be able to talk them through. You know, okay, this is what you can do to vote.
Rick Ganley: It always seems like good advice to when it comes to a voting question: call your town clerk.
Melanie McDonough: Yeah. And, you know, sometimes people don't want to do that, but that really is the best way is just to talk to someone. If they're confused or they're feeling frustrated, sometimes trying to muddle through all the language that you might find on websites can get a little bit confusing. Or just assuming that you have, it's just nice to have that comfort and town clerks and city clerks are very helpful. They'll be able to walk you through. And again, you don't have to tell them that you're a felon. That's not a requirement. You're just basically looking for, you know, what does it take to register to vote? And it's no different for anyone out there. The standards will be the same.
