the right to vote
In any democracy, the right to vote is fundamental, meaning that all citizens have the right to exercise free will in deciding who they entrust their leadership. In the United States, the same case exists, with all citizens having the right to vote. However, not all states are allowing everyone to vote, with a massive bloc of felons not being allowed to vote in some states. In the state of Florida, Felons are required to pay exorbitant fees after completing their terms of a sentence so as to get back their right to vote, which bars many felons from casting the ballot. Proponents of the idea of barring felons from voting argue that based on the history of the crime of the offenders, they should not be allowed to vote. However, felons should have the right to vote, because denying them a chance to vote in the state of Florida is going against their human and constitutional rights.
Supporters discouraging felons from voting, state that offenders cannot be trusted to vote based on their criminal past. According to the supporters, citizens who choose to break the law purposefully choose to go against laws that are put in place to allow for the smooth functioning of the state. As such, they have deliberately chosen to go against good, and the judgement is deemed inadequate based on their decisions. Thus, felons cannot be trusted in choosing their leaders if they cannot be trusted to make the right decisions in their lives. However, Felons are allowed to bear children and buy alcohol without any restrictions in Florida. The act of bearing children and buying of liquor requires sound judgement. If felons are being trusted to perform these actions without judgement, then why should they not be allowed to vote?
First, barring a population of people from voting is unfair and a breach of human rights. Felons contribute to the overall population of Florida. Thus, this means that denying felons the right to vote, essentially strips a part of the population their power. Therefore, felons who are denied the right to vote are unable to choose leaders who will make a policy that is favourable to them. For instance, ex-felons have a hard time getting jobs based on their criminal history. Given a chance, they can elect leaders who can enact policies that make it easier to get jobs. Also, mist incarcerated individuals in the state of Florida are those of the African American race. The case may be because black people fall victim to police victimization that raises their chances of being imprisoned, and thus they have their rights to vote taken away. Hence, many black citizens in the state are being locked out of the voting process, which would give them a chance to elect leaders to make policy reform that would reverse their state.
Second, Felons have already paid their dues to society and thus have earned their rights back. In serving their time in prisons, felons have paid their dues to society. Prisons are usually places where an individual’s rights and freedoms are limited. Also, in prisons, felons face harsh conditions that are characterized by physical and emotional trauma that affect their lives. Also, once felons step outside the walls of a prison, they are already faced with the stigmatization of being incarcerated as well as the harsh reality that they may never be employable. Such is punishment enough for their supposed lousy judgement, and it is assumed that they have learned their lessons and thus, earned back their rights to vote.