Facepunch Politics/Thoughts: Should Prisoners have the right to vote? - Polidicks

Facepunch Politics/Thoughts Should Prisoners have the right to vote? Let's start a debate, should prisoners have the right to vote? Should every prisoner lose their right when jailed for a crime? Should only some prisoners who have committed minor crimes be allowed to vote?

Every citizen of the United States, bar those who are convicted of Treason, should have the right to vote.

yeah

Yes, they should absolutely be permitted to participate in elections. It is utterly criminal that any citizen is denied their vote under any circumstances.

The prison system does so much more harm than good, its fucking insane

Yes. We should try to reform and reintroduce prisoners into society the best we can, tearing away their rights and making them feel like scum who don't deserve to have a say in their future helps no one.

Lemme see one good argument why they shouldn't. I legitimately can't think of one, and I'm usually good at devils advocadoing.

Yes, even if only so that politicians have to care about prisoners that way.

Only prisoners who make less to harmless to nonexistent crimes only need to regain their voting rights.

I really don't see why prisoners shouldn't have the right to vote. As such without seeing any valid reason they shouldn't, I'm forced to go with: They should absolutely have the right to vote. The only real argument I could possibly see going against them is that maybe while they're actively serving time maybe they shouldn't be able to vote, if even that much.

I don't think anything should effect a persons voting rights. Everyone should be able to vote.

The only argument I've heard that has a shred of logic to it is that they "forfeit their rights" when they commit crime. Except we don't get to just kill criminals because guess what they still fucking have rights and just because it sounds neat and clean ("take someone else's rights away and you lose yours") doesn't make it actually a sane position.

They should have the right to vote at their last listed address or something similar through that state's absentee ballot system. If that were too difficult then they should be allowed to vote for statewide elections. The arguments I've always heard are either A) they deserve it as punishment or B) prisoners concentrated in one place would swing elections. then there's the stupid argument that prisoners would vote against prisons which... ya I guess but they wouldn't have any statistical impact Permanent felony disenfranchisement is absolutely pointless

Of course a leftist hivemind such as facepunch believes that human beings have rights!

If they are paying their dues to society or have paid them and arr full functioning members of it now, yes? Policy affects prisons too and prisoners are citizens.

*hides soros checks* fuck they found out our secret agenda

I don't see why not if they already served their sentence. If they can get a house and a job after prison, then they should be allowed to vote as well. There's no reason why they can no longer be represented in government after serving their time, and treating someone like they are a second class citizen for the rest of their life, just because they went to prison once, is a great way to breed repeat offenders.

Make laws that criminalize stuff your political opponents do Your political opponents are convicted of crimes and can't vote. You never lose political power. This seems reasonable and not dangerous at all.

I mostly agree but I heard a convincing argument that slightly changed my mind which was: If someone has taken the rights of someone else to vote (e.g. murder or harm to a degree where the victim can't function), then they themselves shouldn't be able to. It doesn't really change anything about minor crimes, but it does make me think there is a level of crime in which a person shouldn't be able to vote.

Another question comes to mind, what about citizens who have commited the worst possible crimes e.g. mass-murder,. Take anders behring breivik for example, should he, after murdering so many people, be allowed to vote still?

Do we really need to debate basic human rights? Then again considering that in Massachusetts they had to vote if transgender people should be protected, nothing surprises me anymore

Can you define "protected"? All citizens are protected by default are they not? Have they been given some sort of special rights?

What's that saying about eye for an eye? Oh well, doesn't matter. Let's just lazily reverse everything everyone does back at them, call it justice, and break for lunch.

I mean I hope we don't get to a point where mass murderers will be a large demographic?

I think the obvious answer is yes.

Exactly, even if murderers get the right to vote what's the worst thing that's gonna happen? If you have enough murderers that you're afraid they'd swing the vote in favor of a pro-murder (???) candidate I'd say you probably have other, much more pressing problems to address.

Did we forget the difference between right and privilege at some point?

Do you consider voting a right or a privilege?

Too bad my State (Ohio) just voted that drug addicts need to be locked up on arbitrary sentences and not given a ounce of help or understanding. My parents told me they were voting no in it because it would cost taxpayer dollars, when I pointed out that it won't cost taxpayers a dime and instead would be funded through projected savings they just shrugged and went all law and order though.

https://youtu.be/iKC21wDarBo