Alabama: "Confusion reigns in Alabama over ex-felons' ability to vote"
A Birmingham News report begins: When James Solomon went to register to vote earlier this year, he said he was told he couldn't vote because of a past conviction for cocaine possession.
That was in direct contrast to advice given by the Secretary of State's Office that drug possession is not a crime that strips someone of their voting rights. ...
Less than a month shy of a historic election expected to bring record turnout, there still is uncertainty over who is eligible to vote in Alabama. State officials have given boards of registrars conflicting lists of felony convictions that bar a person from voting.
And registrars, already swamped with new voter applications, have the difficult task of sorting out who is and who isn't eligible to vote. ...
A statewide computer system for the past 11 months has been noting convictions for more than 400 crimes that Gov. Bob Riley's administration deemed to be felonies of moral turpitude - even though officials with the Administrative Office of Courts said they were assured by Riley's office only a shorter list of 70 felonies developed by the attorney general's office were being checked. -- Confusion reigns in Alabama over ex-felons' ability to vote - al.com