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Pros And Cons Of Felon Disenfranchisement

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Felon Disenfranchisement: Is it Constitutional and Should Felons Be Allowed to Vote? Felon disenfranchisement is defined as, “Any convicted felon currently incarcerated or ex-felon now on parole or probation who cannot vote.”(Brooks, 2005). There are nearly 5.3 million Americans who have been barred from voting due to criminal conviction (Okechukwu, 2022). This is important to consider because the United States is unlike any other democratic country in the world by doing this. Yes, other countries express felon disenfranchisement in their own ways, but “no other democratic country in the world denies as many people- in absolute or proportional terms- the right to vote because of felony conviction.” (Okechukwu, 2022). These laws that permit …show more content…

and taken away their ability to vote. I believe this disproportionately affects certain minority groups and robs the U.S. polls from the true opinion of the American people. When felons lose the right to vote they lose their voice. They lose the ability to speak for their experience and for the felon’s lifestyle in America. During the civil war era, southerners would make many efforts to prevent black citizens from gaining the right to vote and the primal way they could do this was by creating laws to punish felons and those with criminal history. They did this to limit the voices of minorities in politics and the policies passed that would benefit the minority groups in the U.S. These felon disenfranchisement laws were the only restrictions remaining after Jim Crow laws were rid of. On the opposing side, people value morality and claim the purity of the ballot box would be decreased by enfranchising felons. They fear that permitting felons to vote would promote hazardous laws and people to be elected into office because of the judgement felons are stereotyped to have. To avoid corruption the U.S. keeps these disenfranchisement laws in place to avoid corruption and ensure our nation is led by trusted officials not influenced by the opinions of those incarcerated.
Research Questions
1. Why do felons get the right to vote taken away?
2. Does disenfranchisement disproportionately affect people of color?

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