Madison Dem will push again for felon vote

Talk about it

Illinois and Iowa have recently agreed to start letting ex-felons vote as soon as they get out of prison.

A Wisconsin lawmaker will try again to let felons here do the same.

Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, is unopposed in November. And he'll try for a third time in January to let criminals have their say at the ballot box if they've done their time.

Right now, they must complete all of their probation, parole and extended supervision before they can vote.

But some get caught at the polls illegally and their criminal charges have listed a whole bunch of misunderstandings.

Some had no idea they couldn't vote.

Others assumed they could vote only in national elections or something on that order.

Parisi says some Republicans actually agree with him and he hopes the party won't block the measure next year.

Preliminary research at the University of Minnesota shows that ex-offenders who vote are less likely to commit new crimes.

Tags: wisconsin news, exfelon, vote