FELONS WHO HAVE SERVED THEIR TIME SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO VOTE AND RUN FOR PUBLIC OFFICE

Felon running for Houston City Council says she wants to serve her community

By Brittany Jeffers

Click2Houston
November 12, 2019

HOUSTON - Cynthia Bailey said Tuesday that she has served her time and now she wants to serve her community by sitting on the Houston City Council.

The convicted felon who is running for the District B seat is headed to a December runoff against Tarsha Jackson.

Last week, third-place candidate Renee Jefferson-Smith filed legal action seeking to have Bailey disqualified from the runoff, citing her prior felony conviction in 2007. She also claimed that Bailey lied about the conviction on her application for candidacy.

"What I want others to get is that she lost to me and that's it," Bailey said. "It's a loss."

Oliver Brown, Bailey's attorney, said his client is eligible to run for office, despite her felonious record.

"A lot of people are under the perception that people who have a felony cannot run, and that's false," Brown said.

Brown has filed a plea in the case and cited the Houston City Charter and two specific reasons he said that Bailey is eligible to run.

"My client is a qualified voter," Brown said. "If you look at the definition of qualified voter under the election code, it states even if you had a felony and you served out your time or you're done with your parole or probation, your voting rights are restored. So, therefore, she's now a qualified voter, and she's been in this district for 12 months, so she gets to be on the ballot."

The legal department with the city of Houston responded by saying that the "court will provide guidance on the matter."

Gerry Birnberg, who has practiced election code litigation. said that the next step is court proceedings.

"The next step is court hearings to determine whether or not the official ballot should be printed with her name on it or not," Birnberg said.

Birnberg said the court's decision regarding ballot printing doesn't necessarily determine whether she is eligible for the position.

KPRC 2 reached out to Jefferson-Smith's attorney for comment but has not heard back.