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Should Felons have votes? (1 Viewer)

Should they? Regardless of violent or not

  • Yes

    Votes: 29 35.4%
  • No

    Votes: 34 41.5%
  • Maybe

    Votes: 19 23.2%

  • Total voters
    82
Not while incarcerated. 

But I don’t care. 

(Also: in California the question is never “should you be allowed to vote?”  It’s “how many votes are you allowed?”) 

 
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Not while incarcerated.

I can see an argument for allowing them to vote after their release, but I prefer lifetime disenfranchisement.

 
What I don’t understand is why people consider this issue to be vital in some way. I read that after Bernie Sanders said the other night that felons in prison should be allowed to vote, he lost some of his support. 

Now I am not a particular fan of Bernie; he’s not my first choice and I won’t vote for him in the primaries. But why would you stop supporting him based on his position about this?? Especially if you agreed with him enough on the important stuff (education, trade, healthcare etc.) to have supported him in the first place? I don’t get it. 

 
What I don’t understand is why people consider this issue to be vital in some way. I read that after Bernie Sanders said the other night that felons in prison should be allowed to vote, he lost some of his support. 

Now I am not a particular fan of Bernie; he’s not my first choice and I won’t vote for him in the primaries. But why would you stop supporting him based on his position about this?? Especially if you agreed with him enough on the important stuff (education, trade, healthcare etc.) to have supported him in the first place? I don’t get it. 
April in the year before the election is like April in this year's football season. People are scrambling for any bit of news and they overreact to the slightest story. 

Plus, the people reporting how many voters he lost have a vested interest in making you say, "I don't get it. Let me find out more". And even more of a vested interest if they can get you angry about it. 

 
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I think mainly this is a thing where the issue isn't nearly as important as how the candidates handle the issue.

Not surprisingly, Sanders is all in on being able to vote while in prison.

Also not surprisingly, Buttigieg is on no vote while in prison, can vote after they are out of prison.

It paints him as the "tough but still kind" guy. Exactly where he wants to be. 

I personally thank that positioning right now is way more important than the actual issue.

 
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What I don’t understand is why people consider this issue to be vital in some way. I read that after Bernie Sanders said the other night that felons in prison should be allowed to vote, he lost some of his support. 

Now I am not a particular fan of Bernie; he’s not my first choice and I won’t vote for him in the primaries. But why would you stop supporting him based on his position about this?? Especially if you agreed with him enough on the important stuff (education, trade, healthcare etc.) to have supported him in the first place? I don’t get it. 
I think some people just respond hyper-emotionally:  THE BOSTON BOMBER SHOULDN'T GET RIGHTS!!!

 
Once released, sure.

In prison, I'm currently thinking "no", but will give consideration to differing opinions if the justification resonates.

 
Out of curiosity, why do you prefer lifetime disenfranchisement?
People who can't obey the law shouldn't be in a position to make policy for others.  

I'm like tim in the sense that this isn't the sort of thing I lose sleep over, but ex-felons are a population that I'm very comfortable excluding from the electorate.

 
People who can't obey the law shouldn't be in a position to make policy for others.  

I'm like tim in the sense that this isn't the sort of thing I lose sleep over, but ex-felons are a population that I'm very comfortable excluding from the electorate.
Bit of a slippery slope there with "people who can't obey the law", no?  You go down the rabbit hole, and you're left parsing the seriousness of crimes?  Felony is a tidy cutoff, I guess, but in my mind there's a big difference between a felony drug charge and, like, a serial murderer.  I get where you're coming from, and it's reasonable, I just have a problem in general with people who live in our society, contribute to our society, pay taxes, etc., having no vote representation.  Then again, I don't understand why green card holders and visa holders legally residing in the US can't vote in federal elections either.

 
Bit of a slippery slope there with "people who can't obey the law", no?  You go down the rabbit hole, and you're left parsing the seriousness of crimes?  Felony is a tidy cutoff, I guess, but in my mind there's a big difference between a felony drug charge and, like, a serial murderer.  I get where you're coming from, and it's reasonable, I just have a problem in general with people who live in our society, contribute to our society, pay taxes, etc., having no vote representation.  Then again, I don't understand why green card holders and visa holders legally residing in the US can't vote in federal elections either.
Yeah, I think "felony" is a good enough cut-off.  I agree with you on drug laws, but that's a problem with our drug laws that needs to be fixed.

 
Yes.  I am fine with them voting while in prison and when they get out.  I can see why people would not want them to vote while in prison, but I'm a believer that once you serve your time you shouldn't be continually punished for your past.  This probably gets into prison reform, but it's telling to me that we don't trust our felons when they get out of prison.  We should be doing a better job rehabilitating these people

 
Felony is a tidy cutoff, I guess
It's not really a tidy cutoff when different states often have different definitions of A) what constitutes a felony, and B) what constitutes the kind of felony that should result in disenfranchisement, and C) how long that disenfranchisement should last.

 
It seems like prisoners of all people have a very pronounced interest in their government.  Taking the vote away from them is just trying to tip the scales towards your desired policy outcomes.

 
Sure, I mean what's gonna happen?  Worst case we vote in the living embodiment of the 7 deadly sins in the flesh.   Which we already did.  

 
Most states already allow for felonies to vote after a certain amount of time and the world hasn't ended. I think it's around 38 states.

 
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April in the year before the election is like April in this year's football season. People are scrambling for any bit of news and they overreact to the slightest story. 

Plus, the people reporting how many voters he lost have a vested interest in making you say, "I don't get it. Let me find out more". And even more of a vested interest if they can get you angry about it. 
Good point - April is gave away month.  All the Ds are promising the world in an effort to get some momentum/traction.   

 
Maybe has a point and case. 

Those who think a jeffery Dahmer should have a vote, please talk to me.

You dont because its outrageous.

Stop playing the card. 

 
Because many people's opinions are different based on whether the person has completed their sentence, so without making that distinction people don't know how to vote in your poll?

I thought that was obvious :shrug:
So you support a racists who said sorry?

 
Maybe has a point and case. 

Those who think a jeffery Dahmer should have a vote, please talk to me.

You dont because its outrageous.

Stop playing the card. 
Some people believe that the right to vote should be as fundamental as the right to free speech.

We live in a country where basic rights are bestowed equally upon the deserving and the undeserving.

That's what makes us better than most other countries.

 
Some people believe that the right to vote should be as fundamental as the right to free speech.

We live in a country where basic rights are bestowed equally upon the deserving and the undeserving.

That's what makes us better than most other countries.
So you support pedophilia? Not putting that o. you alone, but does a pedo deserve a vote?

Let's not give anything other than a yes no here

 

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