Cited: CNN

Among the many hotly contested questions being debated by the Republican candidates for the presidency is whether or not convicted felons should have the right to vote. When the question was posed to the panel of GOP candidates this past Monday at the South Carolina debate Rick Santorum, former senator from Pennsylvania, said that he believes that ex-cons should have the right to vote after having finished their sentences. Noting that not having the right to vote disproportionately effects the black community, Santorum also went further to say that the disenfranchisement of the convicted felons was a much larger problem than anything that could follow from giving them the right to vote.

Front-runner Mitt Romney on the other hand doesn’t think that felons should ever have the right to vote, or at least those that have committed violent crimes. Voter’s rights advocacy groups say that with over 2.3 million people in jail, the topic of the rights of these inmates to vote at some point after they have served their sentences is bound to come up at more than just a debate. Presently, convicts are restricted from voting or granted the right to vote on a state by state basis with Kentucky, Iowa, Florida, and Virginia banning convicts from voting for life. However, there is an appeals process that an ex-con can use to have his or her voting rights restored.

Voter’s right’s groups point to several extremely close elections in some local and national races where every vote counted could sway the outcome of the elections. With a majority of those incarcerated coming from minority communities the question of ex-felons right to vote can be a polarizing issue with the obvious battle lines drawn between Republicans against, since they stand to gain little by having more minorities at the voting booth, and Democrats in favor of giving ex-cons the right to vote in the hopes that they will attract these votes in their races. Rick Santorum, Republican, is an obvious exception.

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My take:

I guess if they have paid the penalty for their crimes, cons should be given the right to vote. The other way to look at it is that based on their crimes they have already displayed a complete lack of concern, knowledge, or care for the rule of law, so why should they be allowed to choose those who make the laws? Not an easy question.

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