5 ms·

I didn't know that felons weren't allowed to vote in the US - this was news to me. Looks like it varies by state: http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.ph

by msravi 10y ago

I didn't know that felons weren't allowed to vote in the US - this was news to me. Looks like it varies by state: http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000286 http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=0...

jacquesm 10y ago
This is especially cruel because it doesn't take much to be labeled a felon in the US.
- brian_cloutier 10y ago
  "The New Jim Crow" is an excellent book on this. There's a chapter about how this disproportionately affects young black men and disenfranchises them.
  - IpV8 10y ago
    Just bought this one, excited to start reading it when it arrives.
- Someone1234 10y ago
  That plus unlike in other countries convictions don't "expire." Take the UK for example, many convictions fall away after sentence duration + 2-4 years (obviously depends how serious it is, see "Rehabilitation periods for specific sentences" table in the link)[0]. The UK doesn't disenfranchise anyway (only if you're incarcerated can you not vote). But even in a world where the UK did disenfranchise, it would still be a fairer system as we don't hold people's convictions over their head forever. The US is designed to keep people re-offending. Once you're convicted of a single crime you're effectively damaged goods forever, and have to report it (unless you get it expunged which is far harder if it occurred over 18). [0] http://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/detailedguideroa/ http://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/detailedguideroa/
the_duke 10y ago
This really shocked me when I found out about it a few years ago. According to this statistic [1], 2.5 % of the electorate is disenfranchised. 2.5% is a HUGE amount for a 2 party system with elections often being very tight. This is somewhat less severe due to fellons probably belonging to demographics less inclined to vote, but it's still a large number. [1] http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000287 http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=0...
- meritt 10y ago
  Less inclined? Felons are disproportionately black and black people overwhelmingly vote democrat. There's a reason the red-states are the ones with the strictest felon-voting regulations: They don't want non-whites voting. Take a look at the North Carolina Voter ID law that was just overturned if you need additional everyday evidence: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/politics/north-carolina-voter-id/ http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/politics/north-carolina-voter-...
  - VLM 10y ago
    Felons tend young, poor, and uneducated and adding those together they tend not to vote at all, although you're correct, if they live long enough, get a job, or graduate from school, THEN they'd be in demographic groups that do tend to vote D. Both of you are more or less correct. OP is correct that they don't vote, you are correct that if they were in a higher social class that did vote they'd tend to vote D. Most of the R party complaining about D party enfranchisement of felons is just BAU "must oppose anything my opponent does automatically" not an actual existential threat to the R party.
tanderson92 10y ago
There's a fascinating story in which Terry McAuliffe of Virginia tried to use an executive order to allow the 200,000 felons in Virginia to vote this fall (seen by some as a partisan move for the Democrats, others as restoring voter rights). The courts blocked him, so he instead is granting up to 200,000 individual clemency grants to allow each voter an individual exception.

by msravi 10y ago

jacquesm 10y ago

This is especially cruel because it doesn't take much to be labeled a felon in the US.

brian_cloutier 10y ago
"The New Jim Crow" is an excellent book on this. There's a chapter about how this disproportionately affects young black men and disenfranchises them.
- IpV8 10y ago
  Just bought this one, excited to start reading it when it arrives.
Someone1234 10y ago
That plus unlike in other countries convictions don't "expire." Take the UK for example, many convictions fall away after sentence duration + 2-4 years (obviously depends how serious it is, see "Rehabilitation periods for specific sentences" table in the link)[0]. The UK doesn't disenfranchise anyway (only if you're incarcerated can you not vote). But even in a world where the UK did disenfranchise, it would still be a fairer system as we don't hold people's convictions over their head forever. The US is designed to keep people re-offending. Once you're convicted of a single crime you're effectively damaged goods forever, and have to report it (unless you get it expunged which is far harder if it occurred over 18). [0] http://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/detailedguideroa/ http://hub.unlock.org.uk/knowledgebase/detailedguideroa/

the_duke 10y ago

This really shocked me when I found out about it a few years ago. According to this statistic [1], 2.5 % of the electorate is disenfranchised. 2.5% is a HUGE amount for a 2 party system with elections often being very tight. This is somewhat less severe due to fellons probably belonging to demographics less inclined to vote, but it's still a large number. [1] http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000287 http://felonvoting.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=0...

meritt 10y ago
Less inclined? Felons are disproportionately black and black people overwhelmingly vote democrat. There's a reason the red-states are the ones with the strictest felon-voting regulations: They don't want non-whites voting. Take a look at the North Carolina Voter ID law that was just overturned if you need additional everyday evidence: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/politics/north-carolina-voter-id/ http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/29/politics/north-carolina-voter-...
- VLM 10y ago
  Felons tend young, poor, and uneducated and adding those together they tend not to vote at all, although you're correct, if they live long enough, get a job, or graduate from school, THEN they'd be in demographic groups that do tend to vote D. Both of you are more or less correct. OP is correct that they don't vote, you are correct that if they were in a higher social class that did vote they'd tend to vote D. Most of the R party complaining about D party enfranchisement of felons is just BAU "must oppose anything my opponent does automatically" not an actual existential threat to the R party.

tanderson92 10y ago

There's a fascinating story in which Terry McAuliffe of Virginia tried to use an executive order to allow the 200,000 felons in Virginia to vote this fall (seen by some as a partisan move for the Democrats, others as restoring voter rights). The courts blocked him, so he instead is granting up to 200,000 individual clemency grants to allow each voter an individual exception.