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t1_itb2oqh wrote

It might be a unpopular idea but not letting people with a record vote is bonkers to say the least. One of the purposes of democracy is to have every aspect of society represented and thereby make more informed decisions.

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t1_itb7f50 wrote

Only in the us.

Most countries don't disenfranchise their citizens as much.

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t1_itbpqg7 wrote

> not letting people with a record vote is bonkers to say the least.

The reason is exactly what you'd expect. Trying to keep people who aren't likely to vote for you, from voting at all.

https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/what-can-we-learn-from-the-history-of-felony-disenfranchisement/

>When Black men were granted the right to vote in 1870, Southern states started to adopt felony disenfranchisement laws, not long before they adopted poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses, all tools designed to prevent Black voters from accessing the ballot.

The good news is that as described in that link, it's starting to trend away from that, and people are getting access to vote again in more progressive states, and even some that aren't so much.

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t1_itbj8dh wrote

This is misleading. If I was at PC I would show why. If I remember when I get home I'll update.


Update:

Faster to look at info:

> https://ballotpedia.org/Voting_rights_for_convicted_felons

  1. In two states and Washington, D.C., convicted felons always retained the right to vote: Maine and Vermont.
  2. In two states, voting rights were restored to a convicted felon immediately upon completion of prison and parole time: California and Connecticut.
  3. In nine states, felons with certain convictions never regained the right to vote. The government may opt to restore an individual's voting rights. In Arizona, the government must opt to restore voting rights for individuals with two or more felony convictions. Voting rights are automatically restored to an individual with one felony conviction upon completion of his or her sentence.
  4. In 19 states, voting rights were restored to a convicted felon immediately upon completion of his or her prison sentence.
  5. In 18 states, voting rights were restored to a convicted felon upon completion of his or her sentence, including prison time, parole, and probation.[4]

More official version:

> https://www.justice.gov/voting/file/1507306/download

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t1_itbjdim wrote

I'm a bit uncertain what the misleading part is.

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t1_itbpmfh wrote

Thanks for the reply, I updated my post. I would totally have forgotten.

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t1_itc8zzx wrote

Lol, saw the update, also uncertain. What part of the comment you replied to is misleading?

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t1_itdw252 wrote

I read it as "People with records can't vote" which is false because people with records can vote. It may have just been how I read it though.

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t1_itdipqm wrote

From the article.

After serving time for a 1995 burglary conviction, Rogers had been out on parole since 2004. His parole ended in June 2020

25 years of not being able to vote because of burglary. A crime that involves theft without the presence of the owner of the property. As in you didn't harm a person to steal from them. Wrong, sure, but not being able to vote for a quarter century?

Just because OP used the word record, instead of currently waiting for an insanely long parole to end doesn't mean they were misleading.

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