Once sentenced to jail = no voting right in the elections?

The answer is... Depends.

once you have a felony you can not vote!

If you are convicted of a Felony you can no longer vote in the US.

As far as I know it is true but you can petition the courts to have your rights reinstated...

Hows that, depending on how big a crime it was etc?

felony = no vote

Different states have different rules. I think in most states you can vote after your sentance has expired (Meaning not in jail and off parole/probation). In some states you have to apply for your right back. In some states some felons can get the right back but some (murderers, rapists) can not. I think in california you can vote even if you are on probation.

Depends on the state and sometimes the type of felony.

Hmm.. a bit weird but maybe not necessarily bad. Strange its practised in the "land of freedom" though dont you think?

well, it guess it just sucks if your name is charles manson.

Wow, that's pretty harsh.. and considering the US has a large prison population, that's a lotta ppl not allowed to vote!

Now the irony is in counties that have a large prison population the senators and such get extra. See they get to count the prisoners as residents of the county for various perks.

I think there is some kind of contoversy going on in florida right now. I am not sure but they may have reinstated a voting ban on felons. Some people say it is a republican trick by whatever bush is governer over there because felons typically vote democrat.

you have to petition to get your voter rights back

I just found this out from someone I know and I'm puzzled by it.

You do the crime. Do the time.

And, that's it?

Your voting rights are taken away?

18% of all black adults in the USA are not allowed to vote because of that.

"Land of freedom"??

So if you were wrongfully convicted, you can't vote for any type of legislation that may help reform the system that wrongly convicted you.

Nice

I think people that are taxpayers should be able to vote. Why should someone that dosen't pay taxes get to vote. Thats like letting your kids decide your budget. I don't mind if a felon votes as long as they pay taxes.

EXACTLY, the system fucks you from every angle

You all are wrong. Only four states disallow felons from voting. All other states allow it unless you are either in prison or on parole. One state even allows voting from prison, I believe its New Hampshire but I could be wrong about that.

There's also a skew depending on gender (men commit more felonies), and on the state (blacks have higher proportions of felony convictions in the South). In Florida, more than 30% of black men can't vote because of felony convictions.

In addition to the falsely-convicted felons, the majority of felons were probably convicted for drug crimes which many feel should not be felony crimes in the first place. The people most affected by the laws have no legislative representation to voice concerns about them. Rapists and murders are one thing, but you can permanently lose your vote over a single marijuana plant.

Source? Here's a different reality, from cfpa.org:

Prisoners permitted to vote:
ME, VT
Voting restored after release from prison:
HI, ID, IL, IN, LA, MA, MI, MT, NH, ND, OH, OR, PA, SD, UT
Voting restored after release from prison and completion of parole (probationers may vote):
CA, CO, CT, NY
Voting restored after completion of sentence, including parole and probation:
AK, AR, GA, KS, MN, MO, NE, NJ, NM, NC, OK, RI, SC, TX, WV, WI
Voting restored after completion of sentence for first felony, permanently disenfranchised for at least some second felonies:
AZ, MD
Voting restored for certain ex-offenders convicted of felonies, others permanently disenfranchised:
AL, DE, NV, WY
Voting restored after completion of sentence, except those convicted of felonies before a certain date who are permanently disenfranchised:
TN (pre-1986 disenfranchised), WA (pre-1984 disenfranchised)
All convicted of felonies permanently disenfranchised:
FL, IA, KY, MS, VA

The democrats would lose half their voting base if only those who paid taxes were allowed to vote.

Most states have this one right, IMO. (Rights re-instated when you are out of jail and off probation/parole)

I would probably be more comfortable with it simply being out of jail = you can vote. Letting folks in jail vote is a bit much, in my opinion. Take for example some tiny small town, where there is a large state or federal prison. In many cases, the prisoner population can meet or exceed that of the local folks. Which basically means, if allowed to vote in local elections they could elect whoever the hell they felt like. I think it still makes sense on a federal level as well.

However, many, many, many election laws and practices simply in my opinion are out of date. Back when most of these laws were instated (permanent disenfranchising felons) a felony was a VERY severe crime. Nowadays, practically everything you do can be charged as a felony if they feel like it.

There are a lot more somewhat stupid and old practices. Namely the electoral college. It works in theory (the theory being each state gets X number of votes depending on number of senators (population), so candidates ignore the less populus states and go after the top 5 or whatnot), but I think a lot of states need to re-visit the way their electoral votes are cast (and if need-be, since I'm no expert the federal laws need to be changed to account for this.)

Currently, an elector can vote for whomever the hell they feel like, and no one can do anything about it. I believe states should be able to tie their electoral votes directly to the popular vote, and bypass the possibility of a faithless elector screwing up a swing state, for example. It seems everyone I talk to simply does not believe me that an elector can change their vote entirely on their own whim (they can and have), granted it doesn't happen often - but still.

Also remember the election process was designed back in a time when no one could have even fathomed the power of the federal government. Back then, the US resembled something more like the EU - in terms that each state was more or less a seperate entity, who agreed to come together for mutual protection and welfare of the citizens. The tide has by far shifted though, with the majority of the power being held in the federal arms, instead of the states. Whether this is good or bad is up to you to decide.

Ah well, this should be an interesting one tomorrow.

And one quickie: to whomever said you do the crime, then do your time - unfortunately you are mistaken. Once you get convicted as a felon your life is essentially over in this society. Unless you already were well established in a career and have very specific skills, chances are you will never work anything above a menial job for the rest of your life. Hell, in this day in age employers are requiring you pass credit checks before you can get a job, not to mention a normal background check.

-Phil

Felons don't get to keep their passports either...

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/...tion/ch10.html

I don't agree with that ... you can make fuckups in your life but you can also be a great person after ... no 2nd chance

wrong

correct

Exactly... and on the flip side, if they do not let you vote for any reason, why pay taxes?

IMHO every tax paying adult man and woman in this country should be permitted to vote. Who cares if you have been in prison or have a felony? If you pay taxes, you vote. Period.

I know some great people who are felons. They did some dumb shit when they were 18 and now they are grown, honest, have families and work their ass off.

Don't do the crime if you can't do the time

I think that is only for certain felons, not all cases.

really? like where?

My friend is inside for something that he didn't do ... if he gets outside and his life is still a nightmare that's gonna be fucked up

damn, just thinking about all of the political drama going on here at GFY, imagine the 'flame wars' in prison, where shanks are real, and the people are killers, rapist, and other misc. lifers instead of keyboard warriors

Really? The people I know that are voting for Bush are all getting some type of govt assistance, mostly from the military. They have nothing better to do than to sit around and watch Fox News and listen to Limpball. Everyone else I know that does well are voting for Kerry. Ever listen to right wing radio? Its obvious the callers are at the same intelligent level as the man they support. So whats your story?