Many people in Colorado are confused about the rules regarding voting if a person has been convicted of a felony. Importantly, every state has different voting laws, so this information only pertains to Colorado.
While waiting outside a court room in the Sixth Judicial District today, I found a pamphlet addressing whether an individual convicted of a felony may vote in Colorado. The pamphlet was produced by the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition and references C.R.S. 1-2-103(4). The law states that an individual is not permitted to vote while serving a sentence or on parole for a felony sentence.
This brings up an important question: what does it mean to serve a sentence? If a person is sentenced to a period of time in jail/prison or is serving parole he or she is still serving his or her setence. This means that a person in jail/prison for a felony, or on parole for a felony is not eligible to vote in Colorado.
You can find more information on the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition's website: ccjrc.org.
Keywords: can I vote if I am a felon?, felony, colorado felony, durango criminal, colorado voting rules