Essay
Restoring the right to vote to individuals convicted of felonies can be supported for many reasons. First, a poll conducted in August of 2022 found that 85% of Americans believe that the focus of the criminal justice system should be rehabilitation[1]. Restoring an individual’s right to vote can be a step in this process. Citizens feel a sense of purpose and belongingness when they are allowed to contribute in this way to their communities. This is also an issue that affects Black Americans more than any other population. About 2% of the American population has lost their right to vote because of a felony. However, this affects about 5% of Black, voting-aged individuals. This can be compared to 1.5% of people from all other races[2]. Finally, individuals with felony convictions still pay taxes and therefore should be afforded the right to vote as tax-paying citizens.
Though there are many arguments for the re-enfranchisement of felony-convicted individuals, there are also arguments against this that must be considered. One such argument is that those who disregard or break the law should not have the say in making it. Studies have also shown that about 67% of incarcerated individuals find themselves convicted of another crime within 3 years. That number increases to 76% within 5 years[3]. Some may argue that it is not worth it to restore the right to vote to individuals who will most likely lose it again within 5 years. Further, the argument can be made that people should have to prove their ability to follow the law after being released from prison before their right to vote is restored. It is also worth noting that technically the constitution upholds felon disenfranchisement. The 14th Amendment asserts that the right to vote can be stripped “for participation in rebellion, or other crime[4]”.
[1]
Daniel Gotoff, Sandra Markowitz, McCauley Pugh, and Ronan Ferrentino, “New National Poll Shows Majority Favor Guaranteed Right to Vote for All,” sentencingproject.org, Aug. 9, 2022
[2] Christopher Uggen, Ryan Larson, Sarah Shannon, and Robert Stewart, “Locked Out 2022: Estimates of People Denied Voting Rights,” sentencingproject.org, Oct. 25, 2022
[3] Hans von Spakovsky, “Collateral Consequences of Felony Convictions: Felon Voting,” heritage.org, Oct. 31, 2017
[4]
Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica,” Fourteenth Amendment,” britannica.com, Aug. 29, 2022