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Rank2436

Idea#308

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Restore voting rights for convicted felons

Why Is This Idea Important?: This relates to the fundamental rights of every American citizen.

It is the fundamental right of every American citizen to vote. This right should be accorded to every American citizen, whether they are a convicted felon or not.

Submitted by Unsubscribed User 2 years ago

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Comments (10)

  1. lfu said:

    what is the relevance to open and transparent government???

    2 years ago
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  2. Unsubscribed User said:

    Because, in my opinion, a government is not open if there are large sections of the population that are not eligible to vote.

    2 years ago
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  3. Unsubscribed User said:

    Conviction of a felony must have consequences. Losing ones voting privilege is one of the consequences of committing a serious crime.

    2 years ago
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  4. jmdean said:

    wdcraven,

    I definitely agree with you that performing a felony should have consequences. I think we just differ in our opinions as to whether voting is a right or a privilege and, whether losing voting rights/privileges should be part of the punishment for committing a felony. Either way, thanks for commenting and it will be interesting to see where the visitors to this site fall on this issue.

    Regards, Jonathan.

    2 years ago
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  5. erick.gonzalez said:

    Restoring voting rights for convicted felons will not add transparency to the system, this is irrelevant.

    2 years ago
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  6. Unsubscribed User said:

    "Conviction of a felony must have consequences"

    It already does. Convicted felons who have served their sentences, completed probation/parole, etc, should not continue to be punished (sometimes for the rest of their lives) by being disenfranchised from the electoral process.

    Allowing convicted felons to regain their voting rights has been proven to reduce recidivism and promote reintegration into society post-incarceration. Removing felons from the franchise only serves to create a separate, "lesser" class of citizens, out of a group of people who already feel far removed from society.

    While I agree that allowing (certain) convicted felons to regain their voting rights probably won't do anything to promote transparency in government, this is an important issue that's been largely ignored for far too long.

    I do agree with jmdean, however, that our government can never be truly "open" when millions of Americans are without a political voice.

    In Virginia alone, for example, 20% of the African American population can't vote. That's a huge number of people whose opinions aren't counted when it comes time to choose sides on important issues.

    2 years ago
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  7. Robert David STEELE Vivas said:

    Anyone who has served their sentence should be restored to full rights.

    2 years ago
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  8. Becky said:

    An incarcerated individuals should not be permitted to vote because I agree, there are consequences for their actions. However, once their debt to society has been repaid, they should regain their priviledge to participate in the Democratic process.

    2 years ago
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  9. paul said:

    Once they've served their sentence, yes.

    2 years ago
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  10. kimberly said:

    We must know that the right to vote is a matter of democracy and NOT criminal justice. When someone comes home from prison, they should be both allowed and encouraged to vote.

    2 years ago
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