Should inmates be able to vote?

Last election, the Peace & Freedom Party put something on the ballot i've never thought about before: to give inmates, aliens, and and 16 y/o's the right to vote.

it was mainly the inmates part that i was surprised to find that pretty much everyone thinks that they should be denied the right.

whats your opinion? should they be able to?

 

i vote to deny certain level of inmates from voting.. in my state it would be level 3 and up to max.. Anything under 3 is really community, minimum security. though some lifer inmates can reach a 2m status only for housing , not outside the gate privileges..
you could let 3 and under vote, - a 4 must be a 3 before they can be paroled , just so you understand the system a bit- there is a yearly evaluation to each inmate. this can be done with counselors and unit managers or other staff..

I dont like the idea in the deeper heart the prison cause inmates can be coerced into doing things for privileges they may not get.. If there was some sort of tally, the prison would get some type reward for voting in a certain direction..

 

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absolutely they should have the right to vote. assuming they are citizens, they are as much at the mercy of the government as those that are not incarcerated.

 

Most inmates probably don't have investments on the outside, or a job on the inside to pay taxes on though. The whole point of prison is you've lost most of your rights as a citizen for a certain amount of time. Making it so felons can't vote after prison though is asinine and violation of their basic rights. I'd say make it like they do with 17 year olds in some state, how they can vote in the primaries if they'll be old enough to vote in the election come November. I say if an inmate has a chance of release anytime between election day and Jan 20th give them the ability to vote.

I would limit it to presidential and senatorial elections though.

 

you have to pay to be incarcerated. did you know that? you don't think they are taxed for that? also, you assumption that inmates don't have money and investments on the outside that they need to pay for is unfounded. for instance, what if they have children and families? public policy will continue to effect them and their families.

i also disagree with the fact that "whole point of prison" is to lose your rights as a citizen. just look at the 5, 6, and 7th amendments for evidence of that. the point of prison is retribution.

 

I agree, it seems like it would be a potential breeding ground for corruption, or should i say more corruption in the DOC. All a candidate would have to say is i am for improving prison living conditions, uhhhh, everyone in prison/jail would vote for 'em.

!6yearold kids shouldn't be voting, nor should illegal aliens.

IMO all these people are very easily swayed in one direction, i think we already have enough of those kind of people voting.

 

just because an individual citizen is "easily swayed" does not mean they should not have the right to vote. afterall, 98% of the people that actually vote are those type that are "easily swayed".

 

The 5th, 6th and 7th deal with criminal prosecution and bail. If someone is in convicted and in prison the prosecution part is over. Those amendments work on the innocent until proven guilty rule, if you've been found guilty or plead to being guilty they're irrelevant as prosecution is no longer going on. Also prisoners don't live in any community to vote on, hence why it should be limited to presidential and senate. They are part of an overall state, but they have no voting district in which to elect a representative from unless you count the one the prison is located in, which would be highly unfair to the non incarcerated members of said district.

 

Yea but 98% of people don't face the threat of rape, prison gangs, brutal CO's, ect every waking moment of the day to influence them.

 

well if that's not evidence enough you can look at the 8th amendment's cruel and unusual punishment clause. the founders' intent was that those incarcerated should also be protected by the bill of rights, and therefore, the point of prison is not temporarily suspend those rights.

 

those that are not incarcerated could face rape, gangs, brutal bosses at every waking moment and you aren't trying to revoke their right to participate in the political process!

 

why?!

 

Anything can happen at any time, but do you live in a large house where rape is common place, brutality the norm by both other residents and the landlords, and 6 rival gangs all competing for the same influence power and drugs? It's asinine to compare the prison world especially in the United States to regular life for those not in prison and pretend they're on equal grounds.

We have a first past the post system of electoral districts. House members and state assembly members are elected from specific districts to represent a certain constituency, not an entire state. Inmates don't live in any specific constituency, they're shipped off to various prisons as the DOC sees fit. It would be highly unfair for people living in a district to have prisoners down the road from them being able to vote for their representative too given the fact they're in prison, they have no needs that can be represented at the local level, prisons are run by the state(or by the feds, in which case again a senator is meant to represent a whole state vs a house member who only represents a certain geographical area). On top of it, it would be extremely unfair for people living in rural areas who happen to have a large prison nearby, or people who live in a district where multiple prisons are concentrated.

And that's just for state prisoners, trying to get federal inmates to vote in local elections would cause all kinds of constitutional and boundary problems since the good deal of federal inmates are often not housed in the state they actually are a citizen of.

 

I believe that if you have committed and been found guilty of a crime that you should not have the right to vote while serving your sentence.

That being said I also believe that after you have served your sentence and you're released then your right to vote should be returned.

People make mistakes but after they've made amends, those mistakes should not haunt you for the rest of your life. You should be allowed all the opportunities every other citizen has.

 

I feel that anyone should be allowed to vote, if they are mentally able to comprehend the outcome of their decisions. Some people in prisons are not mentally stable or do not want to vote for the right reasons. Some just enjoy causing mayhem.

I have been incarcerated and I am very capable of making a logical decision on a ballot. I think that certain tests should be taken to determine the mental competancy of the person who is being told they CANT vote. Anyone should be allowed to express their opinion freely. As humans we are gifted with the choice to voice our opinion.

 

Everyone should be able to vote. In prison or not.

 

I acknowledged the fact that we already have to many people that are easily swayed. So do we really need more?

I see it like this. An inmate(remember i agreed with orisons post that certain level 3 and below inmates should be able to vote) that is doing a long bid is likely to vote just because of a candidates views on improving prison life without a second thought as to how any of their other policies may affect the lives of "free" citizens(this also happens among "free" citizens). Moreover, unlike "free" citizens inmates have many other variables that could easily sway them in one direction, even if it isn't their choice(madcap pointed this out)

However, even with external pressure being applied it would be funny to think anyone applying this pressure could actually find out how a certain individual voted.

The best way to do it would be have an outside agency do the polling, have all ballots cast anonymously and then i don't really see a problem.

 

All United States citizens have rights. Lets take all of yours away and still keep the prisoners voting. What do ya say?

 

I say - under what conviction are my rights being taken away