Commentary: Should felons vote? Yes
By Marc Mauer Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently restored the right to vote of 206,000 citizens in his state, many of whom had completed their sentences decades ago. One of them, Terry Garrett, had struggled with homelessness and drug addiction, receiving multiple felony convictions before turning her life around. She's now sober, a grandmother, and helping people facing addiction. Told that she could now vote, she said, "Finally, someone sees past what we did."
By Marc Mauer
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently restored the right to vote of 206,000 citizens in his state, many of whom had completed their sentences decades ago. One of them, Terry Garrett, had struggled with homelessness and drug addiction, receiving multiple felony convictions before turning her life around. She's now sober, a grandmother, and helping people facing addiction. Told that she could now vote, she said, "Finally, someone sees past what we did."
The outcome of the 2016 presidential race will affect the course of the nation for years. Yet nearly six million Americans will not be at the polls this November because they are prohibited from voting due to a current or previous felony conviction.
Disenfranchisement laws trace back to the nation's founding. Initially, white, male property holders granted themselves the right to vote, excluding women, African Americans, poor people, illiterates, and those with felony convictions. Most of those exclusions have been overturned, leaving felony disenfranchisement as the key remaining obstacle to full participation in society.
The rules vary by state. Two states - Maine and Vermont - permit all citizens to vote, including those in prison. But in 48 states and the District of Columbia, individuals in prison cannot vote; in 34 of those states, people on probation or parole also can't vote; and in 12 states, a felony conviction can even result in a loss of voting rights after someone has completed a sentence.
In Florida or Kentucky, for example, an 18-year-old convicted of first-time felony drug possession who successfully completes a court-ordered treatment program is barred from voting for life. The only means of regaining the right to vote is by a gubernatorial pardon, few of which are granted.
Disenfranchisement has expanded dramatically along with the growth of the prison system in recent decades. From 1.1 million people disenfranchised in 1976, the number has grown to 5.8 million today. Three-quarters of disenfranchised individuals are not in prison but are living in the community, on probation or parole or having completed their sentences.
The effect of these policies is distorted by the racial disparities in the criminal justice system. While differences in crime rates explain part of those disparities, black rates of incarceration are also affected by racial profiling, skewed enforcement in the war on drugs, and socioeconomic disparities that affect access to high-quality defense attorneys. As a result, one in 13 African Americans nationally is ineligible to vote.
Disenfranchisement may also affect electoral outcomes. In the 2000 presidential election, decided by just 537 votes in Florida, 600,000 Floridians who had completed their sentences were ineligible to vote. Had they participated, it is quite possible that the outcome of that national election might have been changed.
Why should we permit people with felony convictions to vote? In part, this is what democracy is all about. Voting rights are determined based on citizenship, not character. If we disqualify someone based on a past conviction, what about someone who is openly racist, a serial adulterer, or an athlete who uses steroids?
Some suggest that permitting convicted offenders to vote would somehow create a "criminal lobby" that would vote against the interests of law-abiding citizens. But how many candidates for political office have run on a pro-criminal platform? This doesn't seem like an immediate threat to public safety.
Think about a person coming home from a five-year prison sentence. He is most likely to succeed if he can get a job, find a place to live, and establish strong ties to the community. If we tell him that he's a second-class citizen who can't vote, that can only create barriers to his integration. By extending the right to vote to people who have made mistakes, we can both build a more inclusive democracy and make our communities safer.
Marc Mauer is the executive director of the Sentencing Project (www.sentencingproject.org) and the author of "Race to Incarcerate." He wrote this for InsideSources.com.