Why are felons not allowed to vote?
Amendment 26 grants anyone 18 or older and a US citizen the right to vote.
Answers:
As an ex-felon myself, I don't really approve of this law, but I do understand why it exsists. If a stigma is attatched to a crimminal conviction, then it supposedly acts as a deterrent for crime. The real reason, though, is simply tried and true political dogma. With this law in effect, the government can control who votes. Not very effective in this day and age, but it was enacted in a time when blacks and women couldn't vote. It was a different age.
Personally, I think that once you have paid your debt to society, you should be allowed to vote again. For those that put all felons in the same category...shame on you. Some of us are intelligent, sensitive people with families. One wrong choice when a person is 19 shouldn't punish them forever. It's called rehabilitation. People change.
Because they are criminals !
They've been to the other side of the counter.
Because of an obscure clause of the 14th Amendment.
"But when the right to vote at any election ... is denied ... or in any way abridged, ***except for participation in rebellion, or other crime***, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion"
That clause sets a specific penalty for denying people the right to vote, except when such denial is based on the person having committed a crime (felony).
So, some states argued (and won) that if the Constitution said they could not be punished for denying people the right to vote based on felony status, that effectively means they were allowed to actively deny felons the right to vote.
That's the current status of the law. Currently 48 or 49 states have some form of disenfranchisement, though most allow some method of getting the right back eventually.
Yep, you screwed up, you committed a felony, and demonstrated an inability to participate in our society. Sorry.
Convicted felons lose that right. They broke the law and have been tried and judged to be guilty. I may be wrong but after they serve their time they may get that right back.
There are new laws in some states that allow ex-felons to vote now. It use to be that if you were convicted of a felony, how could you make a responsible choice/ vote in your community, state or country (when you have committed acts against it)?
The way it used to work was that if you were a convicted felon, you lost your citizenship. You can usually apply for a pardon after you've done your time. In some states, you automatically gain your citizenship rights after completing all phases of your sentencing.
It is a holdover. At common law, a felony had only one possible sentence: death. That was sometimes commuted and the person was exiled, but the death sentence remained intact. In addition, the person forfeited all lands and rights and essentially became a non-person. A non-person cannot be heard by the king because they don't exist. The only remnant of that is loss of the right to vote. On the other hand, I am just making this up.
They don't pass the Rational Basis Test and/or they didn't go to the Electoral College.
They gave up that right when they went to prison.
There is nothing in the Constitution meant for criminals. Once the commit a crime, they lose all rights of a citizen. They don't deserve to be allowed to vote. They might vote a criminal into office.
because felons have had their civil rights taken away and therefore amendment 26 does not apply.
they aren't allowed to vote- bottom line...they're idiots. Do you really want someone voting for anything that will effect your life when they can't even make the right judgements for themselves?? Including drunk drivers? dont minimize drunk drivers over the run of the mill axe murderer - both have impaired judgement and murder is murder.
besides, you left out a lot of the amendment that would answer your question = the part that tells of exclusions
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