When I was in college (I was 22, I am now 27) I was convicted of
possesion of marijuana with intent to deliver, a felony. First of all,
my main question pertains to voting. I thought if you were convicted
of a felony, you cannot vote in any election- is this true? and if so,
is there some time limit, or can I not vote ever. My second question
is, I completed the assigned court probation and have not had any
arrests or convictions for anything since that time (5 years). Can I
petition at some point to have the felony expunged, or is a felony on 
your record for life regardless?

Dear baku2000-ga;

Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.

Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, whether or not you
can vote after being convicted of a crime is determined by the state
in which you live, not the state in which you were convicted. In your
case it doesn't really matter though because they are one and the
same.

According to the US Department of Justice your voting privileges as an
Illinois resident were never ?taken from you? but merely temporarily
suspended:

In Illinois, any person who is incarcerated as a result of a criminal
conviction is restricted from voting only during the time of his
physical incarceration; however, the right to vote is automatically
restored upon lawful release from incarceration. In order to vote, you
simply must register (or already be registered).

There are some restrictions against registering to vote (one can
register at any time except during the 28 days prior to an election,
and during the 2 days after an election) but if you are already
registered you should not have any problem.

If you believe you are eligible to vote and encounter difficulty
registering, please contact the Illinois Board of Elections, at:

Illinois Board of Elections
1020 S. Spring Street
P.O. Box 4187
Springfield, IL 62708

Phone: (217) 782-4141
Fax: (217) 782-5959
http://www.elections.state.il.us
http://www.elections.state.il.us/VoteInfo/pages/Register.htm

If the Illinois Board of Elections is unable to help you, or to report
a problem, you can contact:

U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Voting Section, Rm. 7254 - NWB
Washington, D.C. 20530

(202) 307-2767 (voice)
(800) 253-3931 (toll-free)
(202) 307-3961 (fax)
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt

If you are still interested in clearing your criminal record for some
other purposes I believe this source will answer all your questions:

ILLINOIS HELP LAW.COM
?Clearing a Criminal Record in Illinois?
http://www.illinoislawhelp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=3220


So ? go vote!


I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.

Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher



INFORMATION SOURCES

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION
?RESTORING YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE: ILLINOIS?
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/restorevote/Illinois2.htm

ILLINOIS HELP LAW.COM
?Clearing a Criminal Record in Illinois?
http://www.illinoislawhelp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_content&contentID=3220


SEARCH STRATEGY


SEARCH ENGINE USED:

Google ://www.google.com


SEARCH TERMS USED:

ILLINOIS

VOTE

VOTER

VOTING

REGISTRATION

SUSPENDED

PRIVILEGES

RIGHT

FELONY

CONVICTION

INCARCERATION

EXPUNGE

Exactly what I was looking for, fast answer, and with sources to back
up the information. Great job.

In what state did the felony occur?  And is this the same state in
which you currently reside?  This information will allow for a more
detailed answer since, based on the little research I just did,
different states have different processes for expunging felonies from
your record.

It occurred in Illinois, and I still reside in Illinois.