Restore ex-felons’ voting rights? Yes: Ensure David Ayala No: Low return-to-prison can vote for his wife numbers are an illusion

This month marks the 12th anniversary of my release from prison. In the years since, I earned a fitness and nutritionist certification, I obtained my associate’s degree in business from Valencia Community College, and I am enroute to getting my bachelor of arts degree in nonprofit management from the University of Central Florida.

I’ve been married to my best friend for almost nine years, and we are the proud parents of two beautiful little girls. I have maintained employment all 12 years since coming out of prison, and I am currently employed at LatinoJustice PRLDEF, a legal defense fund headquartered in New York with an office in Orlando.

Yet, despite what anyone would consider a good post-prison life, I am still a second-class citizen in the eyes of Florida come every election. I am reminded of my place in our society every time we have an election.

You see, Florida makes it almost impossible for any formerly incarcerated individuals to regain their voting rights. Right now, almost 1.5 million formerly incarcerated Florida residents cannot vote due to their previous convictions.

Florida law disenfranchises me from voting.

Think about it: Almost 1.5 million people who completed their sentences are prevented from voting. We are ostracized from society; we feel like we do not have dignity; we feel like we have no voice. We feel invisible when elections are held, or ballots are counted.

I must follow the law but I cannot vote to elect those who make the laws. I have the civic responsibility to pay taxes but I am denied the respect to be treated the same as all the other taxpayers. I am abiding by my civic responsibility, so I should also enjoy my civil rights. The shame often associated with being a convicted felon can keep you paralyzed, ostracized and unable to fight for yourself.

My inability to fully participate in our democracy hurt me to my core last election when I witnessed my wife make history in her election for Florida’s 9th Circuit State Attorney. I was unable to participate in the electoral process that elected her.

While not being able to vote for her was painful enough, what hurts even more is that someday I will have to explain to my 7- and 4-year-old daughters why daddy could not vote for their mommy. I will have to explain to them that daddy once did some things that are against the law and ended up in prison.

But even though daddy completed his punishment and has been a hardworking, church-going, tax-paying citizen of Florida, because he made some mistakes, it is almost impossible for him to ever get his vote back.

That’s why I thank God for the Second Chance Campaign, which is sweeping the state. Come November, Florida voters will have the chance to give back the ability to vote to their friends, family members and neighbors who have completed their sentences and paid their debt to society. Over a million Florida voters petitioned to get this issue, Amendment 4, on the ballot.

America is a country of second chances. It’s ingrained in who we are as a nation that no matter how you came here or what you’ve done, you work hard, and Americans will give you a second chance. Give us all a second chance. We deserve it.

My son gave me a second chance. “Dad, I forgive you for not being in my life when I was young,” he said to me one day. “I know now that you did not know any better then, but you do now because of the dad you are to my little sisters and our current relationship.”

I paid my debt and did everything possible to reintegrate into society. Vote yes on Amendment 4 in November, and let me and others have a voice again.

Amendment 4 would automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons, except for people convicted of murder or sexual felonies. The backers of the amendment, which still covers many violent criminals, want you to believe that felons whose voting rights are restored are significantly less likely to commit another crime. If that were true, it would be an argument worth some serious consideration. But it’s not true. In fact, it’s a perfect example of why we should heed the cautionary observation made popular by Mark Twain about “lies, damned lies and statistics.”

This particular lie is based on a 2011 report by the Florida Parole Commission that tracked a group of 30,672 felons whose rights were restored by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2009-2010. According to the report, 3,095 out of 24,954 felons (12.4 percent) who had their voting rights restored in 2009 and 311 out of 5,718 felons (5.4 percent) whose rights were restored in 2010 had returned to prison by May 31, 2011. The return-to-prison rate for the entire group of 30,672 was 11.1 percent. That is significantly lower than the historical recidivism rate for all felons in Florida, which has been consistently in the range of about 25 percent to 28 percent for many years.

But here’s what the Amendment 4 backers don’t tell you.

The recidivism rate is typically measured by tracking felons for three years after their release from prison. The Parole Commission report measures felons who return to prison after having their voting rights restored. None of the 30,672 felons covered in the touted report would have had their restored rights for a full three years, though. By May 31, 2011, the longest possible time would be less than two and a half years (for a felon restored on Jan. 1, 2009); the shortest time would be less than six months (for a felon restored on Dec. 31, 2010). Comparing these numbers to a standard three-year recidivism rate is comparing apples to oranges.

The numbers themselves raise a big red flag that Amendment 4 backers ignore. Why is there such a big difference in the return-to-prison rate between the 2009 group (12.4 percent) and the 2010 group (5.4 percent)? The obvious answer is that the returnto-prison rate goes up with the passage of time. And the Parole Commission reports for subsequent years, which track the same group of 30,672 felons, demonstrate this clearly.

By June 2014, the return to prison rate for the group of 30,672 felons had increased to 23.1 percent. A year later, it was up to 25.5 percent. A year after that, it was up to 27.2 percent. By June 2017, it was up to 28.8 percent. And by June 2018, it was 30.1 percent.

These numbers aren’t some statistical glitch. In fact, we can see the same thing with another group of 5,771 felons whose rights were restored in 2010-2011. When first reported in 2013, the return-to-prison rate for that group was 11.3 percent. In subsequent years, it went up to 20.7 percent, 23.7 percent, 25.6 percent and 27.6 percent. By June 2018, it was 29.2 percent.

In other words, the promise of reduced recidivism after a felon’s voting rights are restored is an illusion. Any immediate reduction is short-lived and vanishes quickly over time. After a few years, the return-to-prison rate for felons whose rights are restored is no different than the historical recidivism rate for all felons.

There are certainly compelling individual cases for clemency. And when a felon can demonstrate that he has truly turned his life around, the state should welcome that person and help him to become a productive, participating member of society. But let’s not make the mistake of assuming that all 1.5 million convicted felons in Florida are in that category. And let’s not make a dramatic change to our state constitution based on the inspirational stories of a handful of people carefully selected by the backers of Amendment 4.

Voting rights should continue to be restored only on a case-by-case basis to those who deserve clemency.