Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Another Left Turn

This past week Bernie, “I am the original far leftist & will always attempt to be more left than any other presidential candidate,” Sanders proclaimed that he thinks that felons should be allowed to vote while in prison. “The right to vote is inherent to our democracy — yes, even for terrible people,” Sanders said. “Once you start chipping away and you say, ‘Well, that guy committed a terrible crime, not going to let him vote. Oh, that person did that, not going to let that person vote.’ You’re running down a slippery slope.” Thus far there does not appear to be much general support for Bernie’s proposal, although Sen. Kamala Harris did a poor job of skirting this issue while trying to say nothing of consequence. When asked about imprisoned felons voting she replied, “I think we should have that conversation.” 

As we are all probably aware Bernie is from Vermont, and this is of interest because Vermont is one of the two states that allow imprisoned felons to vote. (Did the votes of the Vermont felons assure Bernie of getting elected multiple times in Vermont?) The other state that allows imprisoned felons to vote (unrestricted voting rights) is Maine. Both states allow the person to vote during incarceration, via  absentee ballot, and then after terms of conviction end. There is a wide variety of different approaches in the other 50 states as far as imprisoned felons and voting. The following summary is from Wikipedia:

-In 14 states and the District of Columbia, disenfranchisement (not being allowed to vote) ends after incarceration is complete. 

– Six states have laws that relate disenfranchisement to the detail of the crime. These laws restore voting rights to some offenders on the completion of incarceration, parole, and probation. Other offenders must make an individual petition that could be denied.

-Twenty states require not only that incarceration/parole if any be complete but also that any probation sentence (which is often an alternative to incarceration) be complete.

– In four states, disenfranchisement (not able to vote) ends after incarceration and parole (if any) is complete – California, Colorado, Connecticut, and New York.

-Four states require an individual to petition to the court for restoration of voting after all offenses – Iowa, Kentucky, Virginia, and Wyoming.

The rest of the Democratic presidential candidates are all over the place on this issue, and it is going to be very difficult to have an opinion that is to left of Bernie’s. However, I have faith that one of these candidates will figure out something, so that he/she can be the furthest left of the left on this issue. Come on Beto; come on Mayor; come on Pocahontas; come on Cory; etc. “Go left!”

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