Squad member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) has been advocating for “incarcerated people” to be able to cast a ballot since she arrived in Congress. Indeed, there is a growing movement toward allowing felons to vote in non-federal elections. Some states already allow it.
At a Wednesday press conference, Pressley said, “That’s why we’re here today, to introduce the Inclusive Democracy Act — a historic, brand new, first-of-its-kind bill that will end the stain of felony disenfranchisement in America and guarantee the right to vote for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated citizens,” Pressley said.
There are several reasons felons should be barred from voting, including the fact that voting is a privilege granted by society. Felonies against people or property make war on society, and a fit punishment is being unable to participate in the decision-making process. It’s been that way for several thousand years in Greece and Rome and now the U.S.
The disenfranchisement of felons happened over the first 100 years of the republic as, one by one, individual states made it illegal for felons to vote.
Several Supreme Court cases in the last 50 years have…
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