Wouldn’t it be a shame to make a mistake and have your voice removed as punishment?
Well, for 3.9 million Americans, more importantly 1.4 million black males and 400,000 Floridians, that is the penalty.
Let’s say those 400,000 Floridians who are ex-convicts had been allowed to vote in the 2000 presidential election.
Guess who probably would not have been president of the United States?
There’s also a good chance that we would not be at war at this very moment.
With that many Americans of voting age being disenfranchised, it’s obvious something just isn’t right.
I’m not one to claim conspiracy, but if the shoe fits. Do you know how much power is in 1.4 million black votes or 3.9 million votes in general?
To be realistic, those ex-convicts that have “paid their debt to society” would more than likely not be voting on the republican ticket.
Guess who pushed to remove their right to vote? The same people who are pushing to stop current legislation from giving the vote back to ex-convicts.
Disenfranchisement has to stop. It is a mockery of a political system already going through enough trials to prove its validity.
How can we push for democracy worldwide and eternally punish our citizens for crimes they have committed? That sure doesn’t make me want to overthrow an “evil regime.”
Honestly, there is no justification for taking away someone’s right to vote because they made bad choices in life.
Fine. If this is the game that we’re going to play, let’s remove the right to vote for anyone that wears plaid with polka dots.
How about removing the vote from people that have gotten a speeding ticket?
Obviously, they’ve made a bad choice in their life and can’t be trusted to have their voices heard to run a country.
Ex-cons must not be reminded they made a bad decision and are no longer important in our society because that is the purpose of their prison sentence.
Their disenfranchisement is blatantly stupid.
There is no fairness in disenfranchising someone because they made a mistake at some point in their life.
The heart of American democracy is in the voting process, and every time someone is not allowed to cast his or her ballot, the heart of this nation gets a bit smaller.
Jason Hutchins, 18, is a freshman business student from Athens, Ga. He is a page designer for The Famuan. He can be reached at je_hutchins@hotmail.com.