[lbo-talk] RE: right to vote (was left radical critique)

joanna bujes jbujes at covad.net
Wed Nov 26 14:50:30 PST 2003


Josh wrote:

Not to be pedantic, but only 13 states, mostly in the south, disenfranchise people with felony convictions for life. Everywhere else, anyone who has completed their sentence -- and in many cases, people on probation and/or parole -- are allowed to vote.

A big problem is that many ex-offenders *believe* that they have permanently lost thier right to vote, and very little effort is made to inform them otherwise. ___________

Accurate information isn't pedantry. I brought this subject up a couple of years ago and somebody looked it up: the results were (then) that in some states disenfranchisment was absolute and permanent; in some states there was no disenfranchisment; and in the rest there were varying waiting periods and a long path back to enfranchisement...applications to fill out, bureaucratic hurdles to be jumped etc. To my mind, given the demographics of ex-felons, the folks in the last category are not likely to ever vote again.

Perhaps a lot has changed since then. I don't know.

Joanna



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