I was always somewhat sympathetic to the argument that prisoners shouldn't be allowed to vote. I think there are some obvious issues with people sitting in prison during the election, but this was compelling:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/10/how-prisons-have-changed-americas-electoral-politics/280341/

Quote :

"In Powhatan County, Virginia 41% of the 5th Board of Supervisors District that was drawn after the 2000 Census were actually people in prison and in both the First and Third Supervisory Districts of Nottoway County, approximately ¼ of their population comes from large prisons within the county. In the case of Southampton County, such prison-based gerrymandering means that votes of those citizens who live there are worth almost more than twice as much as votes cast in other districts that have the required number of actual residents."

WTF? You shouldn't get to take a convict's representation just because they're not using it!

Apparently this "prison-based gerrymandering" can basically account for the direction of a large number of elections.

Quote :

"such policies “affected the outcome of seven U.S. Senate races from 1970 to 1998 . . . [and] in each case the Democratic candidate would have won rather than the Republican victor” and these outcomes likely “prevented Democratic control of the Senate from 1986 to 2000” as well."

That's completely insane. What do you think should be done about the votes of currently "disenfranchised" people in light of this information?

10/8/2013 9:14:16 PM

As long as the ability to vote is tied to a flawed justice/law enforcement system, I think there's a lot of thinking to do about our election system.

10/8/2013 9:30:01 PM

Democracy is doomed to fail, the Romans knew this, there will always be tyranny from the mob mentality.

Out founding fathers knew this, and tried to create an electoral system that allowed for selection of leaders based on philosophical merits. Over time, this system was eroded by the democratic process of apportioning electoral votes based on state voter outcomes.

Since then, the 2 prevailing ideologies have tried to figure out how to turn the system around by letting the ideologies govern without influence from the foolish empowered mob, but also convince this empowered mob they have power. This is the whole reAson gerrymandering exists, it's the whole reason politicians seem to lie so much, it's the whole reason the GOP sees themselves as distinct from the mob's Tea Party.

The solution to the problem is either true democratic processes, a prospect that should make anyone afraid, or to have leaders accountable to something better, stronger, and smarter than the mob.

[Edited on October 8, 2013 at 9:57 PM. Reason : http://liquidfeedback.org]

10/8/2013 9:56:06 PM

Republicans did this??? I can't believe it!

10/8/2013 10:10:51 PM

Convicts shouldn't vote while in prison, but should be able to vote when they are out of prison.

10/9/2013 1:02:07 AM

Can someone explain to me of what's the reasoning behind not allowing convicts to vote? Coming here with a more or less clean slate, this issue never concerned me before.

10/9/2013 1:58:26 AM

^I am sure that it has something to do with suppressing the black and minority vote.

[Edited on October 9, 2013 at 7:19 AM. Reason : HOLY SHIT, JUST READ THE ARTICLE]

10/9/2013 6:52:02 AM

In before a conservative rides in on their high horse blabbering about personal choices and accountability.

10/9/2013 7:20:04 AM

i thought felons were not able to vote... is this not true everywhere?

10/9/2013 8:22:10 AM

^

Quote :

"In the United States, misdemeanors are typically crimes with a maximum punishment of 12 months of incarceration, typically in a local jail as contrasted with felons, who are typically incarcerated in a prison. Jurisdictions such as Massachusetts are a notable exception where the maximum punishment of some misdemeanors is up to 2.5 years. People who are convicted of misdemeanors are often punished with probation, community service, short jail term, or part-time imprisonment; served on the weekends."

10/9/2013 8:24:59 AM

^^IIRC no place allows inmates to vote, but only a few states disenfranchise felons who have served their sentences.

10/9/2013 12:24:33 PM

Quote :

"Can someone explain to me of what's the reasoning behind not allowing convicts to vote?"

Not so much convicts, but one of the historical notions of a felony is that it is a crime serious enough to cause you to forfeit many rights you would otherwise have enjoyed, voting included. That, frankly, made sense when a felony was actually handed out for doing something bad. Not so much now

10/10/2013 6:35:24 AM

Holy shit I agree with burro

10/10/2013 6:37:58 AM

Quote :

"Convicts shouldn't vote while in prison, but should be able to vote when they are out of prison."

I feel that convicts should be allowed to vote IF their scheduled release date falls with the presidential term that he/she is voting. Who the president makes a difference in their life too especially if they are going to get out during that presidency. With that said this goes for ANY kind of election, I was just using the presidential election as an example.

Quote :

"Can someone explain to me of what's the reasoning behind not allowing convicts to vote? Coming here with a more or less clean slate, this issue never concerned me before."

Simply put, only Democrats would elections.

[Edited on October 10, 2013 at 9:01 AM. Reason : /]

10/10/2013 8:56:33 AM

It's not that extreme

it's more like "the Democrats would come closer to having a fighting chance proportional to their actual level of support among the populace"

10/10/2013 1:56:46 PM

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/map_of_the_week/2013/08/gerrymandering_jigsaw_puzzle_game_put_the_congressional_districts_back_together.html

10/22/2013 6:30:21 PM