Casey Rudd and her husband Eddie Rudd - leaders of Connections, a re-entry program for former inmates - have been driving around Montana to register convicted felons to vote since they received a $5,000 federal grant this year from the secretary of state's office as part of the Help America Vote Act education campaign.
They aim to register at least 1,000 convicted felons, and their pamphlets and voter registration cards will be in every probation and parole office before the elections this fall, said Casey Rudd, founder and director of the program.
That former inmates can't vote is a stubborn and widespread misconception, she said, even among those who should know better. Connections conducted a survey last year among probation and parole officers, elections officials and convicts themselves to see how common was the myth that felons lose their voting rights. They found that only two of 10 county elections officials knew that felons could vote and only five of nine probation and parole offices knew.
Yet the voting rights of convicts are plainly spelled out in the Montana Constitution, said Janice Doggett, head lawyer for the secretary of state's office. The constitution extends voting rights to everyone over the age of 18 in Montana who is not behind bars, in a pre-release center or has been determined to be of "unsound mind" by a court of law. Convicted felons who are under any other kind of state supervision, like probation or parole, can vote, Doggett said. In fact, convicted felons who have completely satisfied their debt to society can also hold any public office in the state for which they're qualified, the constitution says.
The Department of Corrections, which published the results of the Connections survey in its newsletter recently and encourages all its employees to know the facts about felons and voting, supports Connections' effort to get out the vote, said Joe Williams, administrator of the agency's Centralized Services Division.
Embracing all the rights and obligations of good citizenship is the goal of social re-integration for any convict, he said. Voting is a big part of that.
"I think it's good for felons who are re-integrating back into the community to realize their actions make a difference," he said. "One of the big things about taking responsibility in this country is voting."
The Rudds know well the task of coming back into society after being behind bars. Both have served time in Montana, Casey for selling hashish and marijuana, Eddie for drunken driving.
Casey Rudd started Connections in 1998 after she got out of the Montana Women's Prison in Billings and found that, despite taking every self-improvement class the prison offered, adjusting to life on the outside was a bumpy road.
Along with various public and health education programs and a host of services to recently-released inmates, Connections also publishes a newsletter for both inmates and those on "the outside." Their newsletter includes "cell house recipes" aimed at those behind bars and featuring only foods available in prison or at the prison store. The most recent edition included detailed descriptions for whipping up whole meals comprised of Top Ramen, Fritos, jalapeno squeeze cheese and beef chunk.
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