By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – The Alabama secretary of state's office is trying to sort out confusion over which convicted felons should be allowed to vote in the upcoming election.
Officials say a list of crimes compiled by the governor's office and used to disqualify Alabama voters includes hundreds of felonies that haven't previously been considered bad enough to strip someone of their voting rights. Those offenses include animal cruelty, shop lifting and setting an illegal brush fire.
State court administrators say the list includes far too many crimes. And they say it was wrongly used to disqualify an undetermined number of state voters ahead of the Nov. 4 presidential election.
The secretary of state's office said it is trying to determine the size of the problem and fix it before Election Day.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)