Cornhusker State felons regain voting rights in Sept 05

Ex felons will regain voting rights in Nebraska starting in September of this year, and voting minded civic groups are gearing up to register them.LB53, 2005 Session, Veto overried 3-10-2005. "The League of Women Voters of Nebraska and the Nebraska Voting Rights Coalition, which is made up of 12 groups, will soon launch an education campaign to get the estimated 59,000 felons in the state registered to vote in time for the 2006 primary," according to this linked Associated Press Story. I wonder why the League of Women Voters would take such interest in registering ex felons to vote, since a great number probably were abusive to their wives and girlfriends. A recent US Justice Department Study on Family Violence Statistics from this year reports that 15% of 1/2 million incarcerated for a violent crime nationwide committed them against against a family member. "Also driving efforts to roll back disenfranchisement laws is the nation's swelling prison population. Though crime rates have fallen, the prison population soared to 2.1 million by June 2004, according to figures compiled by the U.S. Justice Department. In 1970, that number was about 200,000. Associated Press.