In a measure spearheaded by a number of groups and individuals, including Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright and the Legal Action Center, the New York State Assembly unanimously passed the Voting Rights Notification and Registration Bill in Albany late last month. The move brings thousands of disenfranchised African-American men in New York one step closer to being able to vote again.

Glenn Martin, co-director of the National Helping Individuals with criminal records Reenter through Employment (HIRE) Network in New York – a project of the Legal Action Center and co-sponsor of the bill – said the Assembly’s passage of the bill is a clear indication that members of the state legislature are committed to ensuring that individuals with felony convictions are provided with information and the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.

“It’s a major step for us in attempting to eliminate some of the many barriers that exist for New Yorkers with criminal convictions and to [help them] re-establish themselves in the community,” Martin said in an interview with the AmNews.

Initiatives highlighted in the bill include:

* The removal of illegal barriers that prevent eligible people with convictions from registering to vote.

* Requiring the courts to advise defendants about the loss of their voting rights at the time a plea is entered and again at the time a defendant is sentenced.

* Requiring local jails to inform individuals about their right to vote and provide registration forms and absentee ballot applications.

* Requiring criminal justice and elections agencies to share data necessary to verify voter eligibility.

According to a report issued last year by the Sentencing Project, a criminal justice policy research and advocacy group based in Washington D.C., more than 1.4 million African-American men have lost the right to vote due to felony convictions. That’s a rate nearly 10 times higher than that for all felons in the United States.

In New York there are about 63,000 disenfranchised African-American men; in New Jersey, the figure jumps to about 65,000.

Thirty-eight states, including the District of Columbia, allow ex-felons to vote; three states impose lifetime bans for all ex-felons; while 10 states regulate if and when ex-felons will regain voting privileges.

Ironically, the states of Maine and Vermont, which have the lowest number of Black residents in the nation, are currently the only states that allow current and ex-felons to vote.

While some of the findings detailed in the Sentencing Project report have been disputed by Martin and others, one element remains clear: the fight to re-establish voting rights for ex-felons has been gaining momentum.

The NAACP, for example, contends that the right to vote extends beyond the state level and is a federal one that requires a federal solution. In a statement, NAACP General Counsel Dennis Courtland confirmed that the organization is involved in litigation that would re-establish the right to vote to African Americans who have paid their debt to society.

Martin of the National H.I.R.E Network said his organization is working to secure a Senate version of the bill for the next legislative season.