Rapper T.I. voted for the first time in his life Wednesday morning, despite a looming jail sentence stemming from his arrest on felony weapons charges last year.
T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, stood in line with the other 12 or so would-be voters when the Henry County Elections and Registration Office in McDonough opened at 8:30 a.m.
Harris, who could not be reached for comment, was finished in about 20 minutes.
"Everything went great," said Sydney Margetson, a vice president for publicity for Harris' label at Atlantic Records.
There were some questions, however, as to how Harris, a previously convicted felon, was legally able to vote, but Steve Sadow, one of his attorneys, said his client was perfectly within his rights.
Under Georgia law, you are eligible to vote if you're not presently on probation or serving jail time, confirmed Deputy Secretary of State Rob Simms.
Henry County Elections Director Janet Shellnut said the voter registration card she received from Harris earlier this month indicated nothing was amiss.
It's a felony to knowingly falsify voter registration information.
"I can't deny a person a right to vote if I don't have anything on 'em," she said.
Since 1997, Harris has had a string of run-ins with the law that placed him in jail or under arrest, including a 1998 crack cocaine distribution conviction in Cobb County.
He was arrested by federal agents in October 2007 while buying machine guns and silencers in an undercover sting just hours before he was to be honored at the BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta.
As part of a March plea agreement, Harris agreed to perform 1,000 hours of community service. He also agreed to a sentence of a year and a day in prison, deferred until after he completes his community service. According to Sadow, under federal law, a person who pleads guilty is not actually considered a felon until beginning his sentence. Harris will not formally be sentenced until March.
TI's voting came as the rap duo "Playaz Circle" announced their intentions to vote again in an effort to get the word out about convicted felons' right to vote. The group, comprised of College Park natives and convicted felons Tauheed Epps and Earl Conyers, are trying to heighten awareness of the issue. With their debt to Georgia behind them, both men plan to vote on Nov. 4, said publicist Annie Chen.
"Voting is a fundamental right of every U.S. citizen," said rapper and entertainer Chris "Ludacris" Bridges in a statement submitted by Chen, "so it's important to get the word out to all eligible individuals, including felons, to participate in the voting process."
Staff writer Bill Rankin contributed to this report
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