Some great anaylsis comes from the Capitol Weekly‘s Nahima Shaffer:

Former state and federal prisoners, including those on parole, would have the right to vote in California, under a constitutional amendment approved by an Assembly committee.

The measure, ACA 6, was approved by the Democrat-controlled Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee in a 6-1 vote and sent to the Appropriations Committee. If approved by lawmakers, it would be placed before voters on the statewide ballot for a final decision.

“The bill before us is not a vote to allow those who are on parole to vote. The bill before us is a constitutional amendment that will allow the people of California to be able to make that decision,” said Assembly member Chad Mayes, R-Yucca Valley. [Some 40,000 in California are on parole and currently cannot vote.]

Under current California law, any person who is imprisoned or on parole for the conviction of a felony is prohibited from voting and their registration is required to be canceled by election officials.

See the full story here. You can also see more on this subject at the Democracy Chronicles felon voting archive. Also see our main section on American Democracy and our Voter Access articles focusing more broadly on the ease of voting and the various barriers in the way.