Centering on Florida, this story in the NY Times today, headlined "Disenfranchised Florida Felons Struggle to Regain Their Rights," surveys the rights of felons to vote. Some quotes:
Only Maine and Vermont allow felons to vote even while they are in prison. Besides Florida, only Alabama, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska and Virginia take away all felons' voting rights and do not automatically restore them.Particularly interesting is this graphic accompanying the story, that shows in progressive maps the number of states that prohibit felons from voting: (1) while in prison; (2) while on parole; (3) while on probation; (4) after sentence is completed, for certain types of felons; (5) after sentence is completed, for all felons. According to the graphic, the seven "states that prohibit felons from voting after their sentences are complete all have some sort of clemency process that can restore voting rights in some cases.""Why should we keep people from voting after we spent all this money rehabilitating them?" Representative Kendrick B. Meek, a Miami Democrat, said. "Why stand in judgment on whether they should vote or not? This is politicians standing in and playing the role of virtuecrat."
This March 2, 2004 report, from the Seattle Times, tells much the same story. Some quotes:
In Washington, like 47 other states, most felons can't vote anyway. But a lawsuit pending here and similar cases across the country have asked the courts to overturn state laws that keep felons from the ballot box, claiming the laws discriminate against minorities who make up a disproportionate number of the nation's prisoners. So far, the felons have won some key rulings here and in Florida.So does this report at MTV.com. Some quotes:
It may come as a shock to our generation, but the United States has never treated voting as a "universal right." When America was founded, only landowners could vote. But the electorate has broadened to include blacks, women and people without property. As the groups of folks who actually aren't allowed to vote becomes smaller — now only felons and those under 18 — it begs the question, should everyone vote? Is it a right or a privilege?For a strong opinion piece, see "In U.S., voting isn't the right that it should be," from the March 21 Albany Times-Union. A quote:Proponents of voting rights for incarcerated people say it is the former. "There needs to be a distinction between legitimate punishment for crime and the loss of a fundamental right of citizenship," argues Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project.
And most other countries agree. No other democracy denies the vote to ex-offenders who have completed their prison sentences.
Among 119 electoral democracies in the world, the United States is one of 11 whose constitutions do not include the right to vote and to be represented. This embarrassing national secret reflects our origins as a slave republic in which votes were cast only by white male property owners older than 21. Universal suffrage was never on the agenda in Philadelphia, and the founders left the tricky issue of voter qualifications to state legislatures. Only gradually was the electorate broadened, with anti-discrimination amendments that prevent disenfranchisement based on race (the 15th), gender (the 19th) and failure to pay a poll tax (the 24th).The Caltech-MIT/Voting Technology Project mentioned in a number of these articles may be accessed here. Posted by Marcia Oddi at March 28, 2004 09:21 AM