Should felons be allowed to vote?

[ElectionsGuy]

I'm split between options 1 and 2. I think there's a clear unalienable right to vote, for everybody. But I don't know how I feel yet on violent criminals voting while doing their time. I'll decide sometime later.

[Deus Naturae]

Other: Only felons should be allowed to vote.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Other:  Unless their crime involved crimes against the election laws, they should be allowed to vote once they have finished probation.  Electoral crimes should result in permanent disenfranchisement.  The reason I have for not wanting felons to vote while in jail or on probation is that their situation makes them vulnerable into being pressured into voting the "right" way and not because felons are unworthy of the franchise.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Other:  Unless their crime involved crimes against the election laws, they should be allowed to vote once they have finished probation.  Electoral crimes should result in permanent disenfranchisement.  The reason I have for not wanting felons to vote while in jail or on probation is that their situation makes them vulnerable into being pressured into voting the "right" way and not because felons are unworthy of the franchise.

My thoughts exactly.

[Franzl]

Any restriction, even for those presently imprisoned, is a disgrace.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Maybe after they serve their sentence, but not before then.  After all, they gave us Al Franken.

Stop trolling and stop reposting myths that have long been debunked.  Just because you keep repeating it doesn't mean it's true.

[Franzl]

Maybe after they serve their sentence, but not before then.  After all, they gave us Al Franken.

Stop trolling and stop reposting myths that have long been debunked.  Just because you keep repeating it doesn't mean it's true.

It's probanly best to just ignore trolls like Oldies.

[Supersonic]

Option 2.

[windjammer]

Option 1

[Antonio the Sixth]

No adult should ever be deprived of their voting rights for any reason.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Option 2.

[angus]

I guess the reason that felons aren't allowed to vote is because legislators feel that if someone isn't willing to follow the law, then he can't claim the right to make the law for everyone else.  To my knowledge, only Maine and Vermont allow convicts to vote while incarcerated.  And only a handful of states (Florida, Kentucky, and maybe a few others) permanently disenfranchise their convicted felons.  In Mississippi there is a list of about 20 disqualifying felonies, including writing a bad check.  It could only be a fifty-dollar check, and it could have been a mistake, but there are folks who are no longer allowed to vote, ever, for doing it. 
 
This was part of the "civil death" in England and it was brought here as a result of English colonialism, but most forms of it was abolished when the USA came into existence.  I think disenfranchisement is the only vestigial form of civil death left.  I think it should be abolished as well.  It wasn't as though felon voter disenfranchisement was part of the original framework.  In 1800, no state prohibited felons from voting.  By 1860, most states did, including many union states. 

Of course, we have bigger problems in this area:  we incarcerate a huge fraction of our adult population compared to most other industrialized countries, and it is costly to taxpayers.  I think incarceration rates is a higher priority problem, but I also think that if we're going to claim to be a democratically-run republic, then convicts should not be disenfranchised.  You could, I suppose, make the argument that currently incarcerated felons are estranged from the political process, but I don't buy it.  They read newspapers and watch television and have access to information just like everyone else, so I voted for the first option.  If someone wants to vote, to play by the rules, doesn't it make sense to encourage that person if the goal is rehabilitation into society?

[Del Tachi]

Of course not!

This would help Democrats so I am against it, dur!

[Hatman 🍁]

Voting is a right, not a privilege. If we allow prisoners to live, feed them, shelter them, then they should also be able to vote.  Otherwise, what's to stop a politician from throwing all of their opponents in jail so they can't vote? Oh wait, the Republicans are already doing that with Blacks...

[Flake]

Maybe after they serve their sentence, but not before then.  After all, they gave us Al Franken.

Stop.

[Cassius]

I'm not of the opinion that prisoners should be allowed to vote, as, really and truly, they lack a stake in society (and losing one's voting rights, in my view, is all part of the punishment that is imprisonment). However, I'm of the view that certain types of felon should be allowed to vote, provided that they either pay a small sum for doing so, or perform a certain amount of community service in exchange for the privilege.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'm not of the opinion that prisoners should be allowed to vote, as, really and truly, they lack a stake in society (and losing one's voting rights, in my view, is all part of the punishment that is imprisonment). However, I'm of the view that certain types of felon should be allowed to vote, provided that they either pay a small sum for doing so, or perform a certain amount of community service in exchange for the privilege.

This is obviously false.

[Cassius]

I'm not of the opinion that prisoners should be allowed to vote, as, really and truly, they lack a stake in society (and losing one's voting rights, in my view, is all part of the punishment that is imprisonment). However, I'm of the view that certain types of felon should be allowed to vote, provided that they either pay a small sum for doing so, or perform a certain amount of community service in exchange for the privilege.

This is obviously false.

Well, I perhaps to qualify that, they do have a stake in how society is run, but it is a comparatively puny stake, and one which, to my mind, is easily overriden by the imperative of punishment. Anyway, I'm not really sure how taking away a prisoner's right to vote is any more of an egregious abuse of their 'rights' than removing their freedom of movement and of association.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Voting is a right, not a privilege. If we allow prisoners to live, feed them, shelter them, then they should also be able to vote.  Otherwise, what's to stop a politician from throwing all of their opponents in jail so they can't vote? Oh wait, the Republicans are already doing that with Blacks...

It's probably both, and lots of rights are given up when one is in jail.

[Antonio the Sixth]

In democratic theory, the very acceptance of the State's authority lies on the basis that the person who is subject to it (potentially to the point of being deprived of its individual liberty) has an ability to influence the public decisionmaking process. A person can be sent to jail for breaking a law, because in some way, they enacted the law in the first place (or at least participated in the process that made its enactment possible). If you deprive a felon of their right to vote, they have no reason to regard their imprisonment as legitimate.

[Oakvale]

After they've served their time, sure. While incarcerated? No, it's a reasonable part of criminal punishment.

[Franzl]

After they've served their time, sure. While incarcerated? No, it's a reasonable part of criminal punishment.

I get the feeling you're becoming more American than a lot of Americans here.

Or does Ireland still do this?

[RedSLC]

Maybe after they serve their sentence, but not before then.  After all, they gave us Al Franken.

No, they didn't. This assertion has been examined and thoroughly dis-proven.

[Cassius]

After they've served their time, sure. While incarcerated? No, it's a reasonable part of criminal punishment.

I get the feeling you're becoming more American than a lot of Americans here.

Or does Ireland still do this?

I'm not sure how it's a particularly 'American' thing; after all, the UK doesn't (as far as I'm aware at this present point) allow prisoners to vote.

[AkSaber]

No adult should ever be deprived of their voting rights for any reason.

^^^^^