Should Prisoners Have The Right To Vote Essay

Should prisoners have the right to vote? In the US not all states have the same laws. Depending on the states law, the person with a felony or misdemeanor can or cannot vote. It also depends what type of felony the person has committed. The right to vote is privilege that we all get, but in some states it can be taken away permanently. “Felon voting has not been regulated federally although some argue that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can be applied to felon disenfranchisement and that Congress has the authority to legislate felon voting in federal elections” ("State Felon Voting Laws."). The right to vote should be taken away if the person becomes a prisoner. The person that broke that law and now is a prisoner was not thinking clearly when the act of crime was committed. What allows them to be capable to vote while being in prison? Yes, every individual should have the right to vote. No voice should be silent. But does that mean that the prisoner should be reward? “ex-felons make up a small proportion of the electorate, it is difficult to detect the effects
Both sides cannot get exactly what they want. They have to meet each other halfway in order to find a solution. “The only study that we are aware of examines a quasi-experiment in Iowa in which only ex-felons discharged after a certain date were mailed a letter that notified them about the restoration of their voting rights” (Meredith & Morse). What if all the states applied this method for all ex-prisoners? Letting the ex-prisoners know when their right to vote is restored to them can be beneficial to everyone. Instead of keeping them out of the loop. The ex-prisoner has done their time, and should not be looked at any less. Being able to vote again after a long time can give the ex-prisoner positive outlook on their future life, and they can appreciate that the right to vote is