The Legal Aid Society applauded recently enacted legislation that gives New Yorkers who are on parole the right to vote, as reported by CBS News.

The bill restores voting rights to individuals on parole, instead of making them wait until they had been discharged from parole or reached the maximum expiration date of the original sentence. As a result, over 67,000 New Yorkers will have their rights reinstated.

Tina Luongo, Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Defense Practice hailed the new act as “a tremendous victory for our clients and a powerful rejection of New York’s racially discriminatory voter disenfranchisement laws.”

The Legal Aid Society continues to push lawmakers to enact full voting rights for incarcerated individuals as well.