What do you think of when you hear the word "felon?" You'd probably think of a murderer, arsonist or maybe even someone who has committed treason. How about a person opening another person's mail without realizing it and then throwing it away because it wasn’t theirs? Does that really seem like a reasonable reason to take away someone's right to vote?
Surely you wouldn't think so, but according to 18 U.S. Code section 1708 it is a federal offense and a felony. Depending on what state you live in, if you open up somebody else's mail on accident, you could lose your voting rights for life. I don’t know about you, but that seems a little bit ridiculous. Actually, it sounds really ridiculous.
In the state of Georgia, felons are able to vote after they have served the terms of their punishment, followed their parole and they have finished their probation. Not to mention that all of their legal fines and fees must be paid off as well. No, it doesn't matter that these people can not get jobs because nobody wants to hire a felon. They still have to pay for the government that they don't even get a say in. Good. Makes so much sense, does it not? Felons should be able to obtain the right to vote when they are finished serving their terms of punishment whether that may be paying a fine or spending time in prison or both in the state of Georgia and the rest of the United States of America.
Felony disenfranchisement laws should be changed because voting has just about nothing to do with committing a criminal act. Can you think of any ways that voting in an election as long as you are a United States citizen, you are registered to vote and you are at least 18 years of age, can be unlawful or lead to unlawfulness? No? Me either. In every state in America, felons are allowed to purchase alcohol once they have finished their parole and probation. Though I can think of many, many ways people can get in trouble with alcohol, it is still legal for felons to buy it.
Also, convicted felons are allowed to obtain a driver's license. Driving can be very dangerous, especially for those who have led reckless lives in the past. Do you know how many people die from alcohol annually? Approximately 2.5 million, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. Do you know how many people die in a car crash every year? According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, about 1.3 million. But have you ever considered how many people die annually from voting? That's right, a total of zero people have died directly from voting. That's because voting doesn't harm you. Nobody gets hurt from voting. In fact, millions of people have died just so that you can have the right to vote! Voting doesn't lead to harm. Sure, somebody may vote differently than you; but that doesn't mean they are causing bodily harm to you in any way. I know it may seem this way because so many of us feel so strongly about our political opinions, but the vote of a felon doesn't actually hurt any people at all. Letting felons vote doesn't threaten the public anyway unlike letting them purchase alcohol or drive a car. Felons who fulfill the punishments of their sentences should be able to vote again because they have already been punished!
Roger Clegg, a member of the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations thinks that it makes sense for felons to lose their right to vote because "you don't have a right to make the laws if you aren't willing to follow them yourself." Though this seems like it would make sense, it just simply isn't relevant to all felons. People make mistakes. People change. If felons are released from prison with good behavior, there is no reason to think that they are not willing to follow laws. Many people exit the prison system changed and wanting a better life that the one they had previously. They leave prison having paid their debt to society already, so why continue to constantly make them pay and remind them of their past?
Losing a privilege is not the same thing as losing a right. Voting is a right and responsibility, not something people go out and do for fun. In 2014, Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative political activist, was convicted of a felony: making illegal contributions in the name of others . In his book "Stealing America," he speaks of his crime and the punishment. D'Souza gave $20,000 to his friend, Wendy Long's, campaign for New York senate. He donated too much money to somebody. Mr. D'Souza had to serve 5 years of probation. He lived in a half way house for eight months. He had to pay a $30,000 fine along while completing eight hours of public service every week during his probation and attending therapy every week. What Dinesh D'Souza did was illegal. He has to face the consequences of what he did wrong. Because of his actions, D'Souza will not be able to vote in the upcoming presidential election, all because he gave too much money to a political campaign. Felons need a voice. They deserve to be able to have a say in the government they had to serve. Disenfranchisement laws need to be revised. After their prison sentence is served, felons should regain their right to vote as a citizen of the United States of America. They have already served their punishment and honestly, voting isn't going to get them in to any trouble or cause them to harm any other person.
It's time to take a stand for those who don't get to have a say themselves. If the government is really by the people and for the people, then all of America's people should be heard. Not just the ones who were never got caught doing illegal activities.
