Essay
The purpose of this bill is to restore the right to vote to individuals that have been incarcerated. This bill would restore the right to vote to all previously convicted felons and all future released felons. In the United States alone, there are over 15 million convicted felons in and out of jail. They make up about 8% of the adult population in the U.S. consequently, that means that nearly one in ten of all eligible people in the United States are NOT voting every election. Elections are the focal points of what the United States represents. Our ability to vote is equal to our ability to speak. The United States represents freedom and how can we mean this when nearly 10% of all of our adult population does not even have the basic right to vote. After one’s prison time has been served, they deserve to have their basic and fundamental rights restored and this new bill would allow for released felons to regain their fundamental right as American citizens to vote. We must remember the past but if we let the past dictate our future, we are bound to repeat the same mistakes.