The right to vote by ex-felonies

The right to vote by ex-felonies

The right to vote by ex-felonies in the United States has become a topic of discussion by many policy-making groups and the judiciary in the country. Felony disfranchisement policies and severity in the United States vary from state to state. For example, in 2008, 5.3 million Americans were not allowed to vote because they were ex-felons. Whereas some states limit the right of voting for ex-felons in different ways, some states do not have any limitation towards voting for the same group of individuals; for example, the state of Maine does not have restrictions on ex-felons when it comes to voting.

There are different ways in which different states restrict voting on ex-felons. First of is limiting voting rights of a felony when they are still serving their term in the society or jail. For example, states like Colorado and Maryland have these restrictions. Ex-felons may not be able to vote until when they finish their term, parole, and probation, and then it can be restored. An excellent example of the states are Alaska and Missouri, and the final voting restriction is that ex-felons are required t finish their time, probation, or parole, and the government may require additional information in order to restore voting rights of some ex-felons. For example, this is applicable in the state of Delaware and Virginia.

As the country continues to debate over whether ex-felons should be allowed to vote automatically or not, people hold different reasons in support of this issue. Those who endorse this argument suggest that it is okay for ex-felons to be restricted to vote and have a proper process put forward in restoring the voting rights of these groups. The reason is that these are individuals who chose to break the law willingly, and hence for that reason, they should never be allowed to take part in processes that are meant to make other laws and for this example voting their leaders or even for different policies.

Opposing arguments on whether ex-felons should be allowed to vote again is that ex-felons are individuals who have served their term within the society and in jail. Since the judiciary deems, they are ready to reenter in the community, giving them the right to take part in the voting is the honorable thing to do as they would have already paid their debt for the crimes committed. Furthermore, giving ex-felons the right to vote again and make changes within their community promotes rehabilitation and reduces the chances of recidivism. The reason why this is the case is that, once the ex-felons are allowed to be part of the community and take part in making judicial decisions like voting, this promoted the feeling of nationalism. They tend to become more patriotic to their state. Hence, in the end, it may motivate ex-felons not to offend again.

Although many states have different restrictions on ex-felon voting, various steps are being taken to restore the rights to ex-felons to vote. There are multiple states where their governors have proposed changes and constitutional amendments to loosen the process of applying for the restoration of voting rights by ex-felons. For example, Iowa Republic Governor has called out for constitutional amendments on this matter. The same thing has happened in Kentucky, where the House of Representatives brought the restore ex-felon voting rights bill with the aim of giving rights to ex-felons to vote again.

Another way is through referendums where different politicians and policy-making groups have pushed for a poll to make it easy for ex-felons to vote again after they successfully reenter the society. For example, the state of Florida, which has a strict rule on ex-felon voting, has recently started various debates to make it easy for ex-felons to vote again.

Indeed I agree that ex-felons’ rights to vote should be granted to them once they finish their term and pay their debt to the society. Although I agree with this fact, the process of restoring voting rights to ex-felons should be done carefully based on a case by case basis as some ex-felons might have committed grave crimes. The reason why this is the case is that this will make these individuals feel valued and become more comfortable in the society. This would be the morally right thing to do because since the individuals are expected to reenter into the communities and fit in well with the others, limiting their rights to vote may make them feel out of a place of feeling discriminated against just because they committed a crime. Some ex-felons end up being fully rehabilitated, and these individuals deserve the opportunity to enjoy such rights, like electing their leaders or even taking part in policy-making decisions with the states.

In conclusion, ex-felons are individuals who have committed high degree crimes in the country. Although this is the case, once these individuals serve their time, their voting status should be restored.