Ieshia Harris
Dr. Yates
EH 102: Synthesis Essay
10 October 2013
Voting Privileges for Felons If you are a convicted felon, then your voting rights have been stripped from you since the day you were found guilty. This is strikingly alarming to me, since felons are still considered United States citizens. A citizen has the right to vote for the person they want to be in charge of their country, regardless of race, gender, or religion. Why does that same law not apply to a citizen that is considered a convicted felon? If you were convicted of a felony crime seven years ago, why should you not be able to vote for your president today? Every felon has to do their time in jail, pay their fines and court costs, on top of being put on a probationary period when released. Is that not enough? Is our government that torturous to ban someone from ever voting again just because of their past? A felon’s reality is, basically, not being a part of society anymore. It seems as if they have lost the most important part of their citizenship, which is completely unacceptable to me. Over five million Americans did not vote this past year. Not because they could not make it to the voting polls, but simply because they were convicted felons. This is such a critical issue because no one, regardless of their past, should be discriminated against, especially since this country is supposed to be equal opportunistic. Some people think sex offenders or murderers should not be given the right to vote back, but I think differently. While I am hoping to find answers to a numerous amount of questions, there is one that is increasingly important. Are there any outlets for felons to get their voting rights restored?
One of three authors who wrote, “Public Attitudes towards Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States” is Jeff Manza. His article touches base on the public attitude towards felon disenfranchisement. ‘He talks about election laws in different states and how the growths of incarceration and conviction rates have skyrocketed over the past three decades’ (Brooks, and Uggen p.275-286). Manza argues that taking away a felon’s voting right is considered cruel and unusual punishment. ‘He makes it clear that this issue has not gone unnoticed and that civil rights campaigns have led a number of states to amend their voting laws for felons’ (Manza, Brooks, and Uggen, p.275-286). I agree completely with his article. My perspective is no different from Manza’s. I think that felons should have their rights to vote and it should not have been taken away at all. I would use this source to back up my own opinions of this matter and make note of the data found by the authors’ pertaining to the public attitude of felons voting again. “Florida’s felonious voting trap”, by Brentin Mock, discusses the issues of voting in Florida for ex-offenders. He talks about the works of Yvette Lewis of the NAACP. ‘Lewis helped convicted felons figure out if they were eligible to vote. If found not eligible, she helped them get their voting rights restored’ (Mock, p. 15-18). People in Florida have been said to be confused with their voting eligibility status. “Some felons were getting registration cards saying that they were registered and eligible to vote, but in all actuality they were not. Lewis’ advice to them was to not vote at all so they would not be charged with fraud if found to be not eligible to vote last minute” (Mock, p.15-18). Laws and policies in Florida have been extremely confusing for convicts. Mock’s article helped me understand that each state has different laws and regulations on voting privileges for felons. It actually shines a light on the voting policies of Florida, and explains the effects they have on convicted felons, who live there. This article supports my argument by explaining the troubles felons face by not having voting privileges. Things would be so much easier if all felons had their right to vote.
