In a democracy, I don’t see how their vote really matters less. Plus it’ll help improve prisons perhaps.
I can’t remember where I heard this originally, but I subscribe to the belief that you need to maintain the rights of criminals (like voting) to prevent tyranny.
Because if being labeled a criminal is enough to remove your rights, a corrupt government need only declare you one to take your rights away.
It used to be criminal in some parts of the USA for black and white people to intermarry, for example. Imagine losing your right to vote because of who you married.
It was Nelson Mandela:
A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.
To be honest I was shocked when I learned about this stripping of rights when you are imprisoned in the US. It is literally a tool of tyranny to lock people up in order to silence them.
They are allowed to vote in civilized countries.
What do you think of France, UK, Italy and China? Because a prisoners right to vote can be removed in those countries as well.
Ah yes, China, a well known bastion of civil liberties.
If one is a citizen of a country the right to vote should be the same as the right to breathe air.
The only qualification should be citizenship.
I can see the argument that when someone has committed a felony, you are taking them out of society as punishment. However once they’ve done their time and re-enter society, they have all the rights and privileges
Geez, connect this with the previous article on “pay to stay” debt, combine it with background searches for most jobs and debt …… how the heck does anyone come back from even a short sentence? If we’re making it unnecessarily difficult to reintegrate, how are we surprised when they fall?
I’ll go one further, voting should be mandatory, punishable by a fine. The ballot should also have “none of the above” as an option.
And if none of the above wins, the office should be left vacant for a term.