Question

What is felon disenfranchisement? How do these policies differ across states (specifically, who is disenfranchised in different states)? What are the implications of these policies for our democratic political system?

Answer 1

Felon disenfranchisement

Felon disenfranchisement means the practice of denying voting rights to those people who are convicted of felony offenses in the United States. A good percentage of the American population is not able to exercise their franchise due to felon disenfranchisement policies.

Felon disenfranchisement policies in different states

The felon disenfranchisement policies are different in different states in the USA. The following are the details of it.

• In states like Lowa, there is permanent disenfranchisement for people who are convicted of felony crimes.
• In states like Wyoming, Arizona, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, etc there is permanent disenfranchisement for some people who are convicted of felony crimes.
• In states like Washington, Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Minnesota, etc. the voting rights for people who are convicted of felony crimes will be restored when the sentence is completed including prison, parole, and probation.
• In states like California, Louisiana, Connecticut etc.the voting rights for people who are convicted of felony crimes will be automatically restored after released from prison and discharge from parole. Here in these states, people on probation may also exercise their voting rights.
• In states like Oregon, Nevada, Montana, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana etc.the voting rights for people who are convicted of felony crimes will be automatically restored after released from prison.
• In states like Maine and Vermont, there is no disenfranchisement for people with criminal convictions as per a felony crime.

The implication of the policies in the democratic political system

The following are the implications of the disenfranchisement policies in the democratic political system.

• The felon disenfranchisement is affecting the open and participatory nature of the democratic process in the United States.
• The felon disenfranchisement is affecting the African -Americans and minorities the most compared to others.
• The lack of voting rights of people who are convicted of felony crimes may sometimes influence the election outcome in the United States.

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