By: Sage Hansard
The State of Florida is one of 10 states that permanently revoke your voting rights if you are convicted of a felony.
A few weeks back, while attempting to leave campus, I was approached by a few individuals with clipboards. They had hoped I would sign a petition to reinstate voting rights to nonviolent felons.
My initial thought was “no” due to the instinctive reaction to hearing the word “felon”. But I’ve never been good at saying “no” and signed the petition and went on my way.
I spent no time analyzing if I had done something positive or negative after I left campus until I stumbled upon a Tallahassee Democrat article that talked about the petition I had signed.
So, now I sit here asking myself, “Should nonviolent felons have their voting rights reinstated?”.
While felonies are severe, a permanent ban seems even more so.
After a felony sentence has been served, we expect these individuals to reestablish themselves in society. We expect them to become normal citizens who work towards bettering themselves and this country. But unlike every other citizen, they won’t have their constitutional right to vote.
While you may say, ‘they gave up their right when they committed the crime’. I will reply, “and they paid for their crime with their prison sentence, parole and probation.”
While I don’t believe at the completion of a prison sentence a felon should have their voting rights reinstated, I do believe we must give them a path towards it.
If we want them to become productive citizens of society, we must give them what other productive citizens of society have.
Sage Hansard, Talon Staff
