Do Prisoners Deserve The Right to Vote

In 2016, there was a total of 1.5 million residents in federal and state prisons, of these 10% of them were convicted felons. In today’s society, most states forbid you the right to vote – for life – if you have committed a felony. These men and women who have committed these hideous crimes have served their time and should gain their citizenship back when they are released. It is a hideous country we live in to know that people who committed crimes when they were eighteen, and are now in their late forties are not allowed to vote. Convicted felons should be allowed to vote after; they have completed their sentences, paid their court-ordered restitution, and proven they are willing to abide by our country’s standards.

In the United States, there are numerous amounts of people who are convicted of felonies and are never allowed to vote. It is very common in the United States to make felons ineligible to vote, most of the time it is permanently. The general trend over the past few decades has been to reinstate the right to vote at some point, although this is a state-by-state policy choice. (Bureau) These people committed these crimes and are no longer allowed to vote to cause a strain on the democratic system.

In every criminal case state law forces judges to state the retributions. The courts do not care if you are able to make the payments for these, for they are forced to make these payments. These people have paid these retributions, and have repented for what they have done to the best of their ability. These people have to pay up to $20,000 in fines and are not allowed to vote after paying so much. (Restitution) These payments are not easy to pay and can be stressful especially since these people will still have to pay for their bonds.

There are certain states that allow the right to vote for convicted felons. Why should these people who have been released from prison not be allowed to vote? They have been released from prison and have served their sentence. Oklahoma is one of these states that allow convicted felons to vote. These people have seen the inside of the system and know what truly happens behind the walls of the federal government.

Yes, I believe that every citizen should have the right to vote as long as they are not in jail during the time of an election. Convicted felons should be allowed to vote after they have completed their sentences, paid their court-ordered restitutions, and shown that they are willing to abide by our country’s standards. I recently watched a video where a person was speaking about the sex offender list and said why do we have it, if we have to say where these people are and have to be wary of them then they should still be in jail. If a person is out of jail and has served their time I believe they should be allowed to have every right any other citizen has. “approximately 30% of African American men in the next generation will experience disenfranchisement at some point during their lives.”() Though most prisoners that get released do not vote they have the right to if they ever feel like they should.

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