It’s only a matter of time.
Iowa is considering opening up voting to convicted felons who have completed their jail terms. But at a stop in Muscatine, Iowa on Saturday, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders took the policy one step further, demanding that felons be allowed to vote while serving their time in prison.
The Des Moines Register reports that the Vermont independent, who is running as the most progressive candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, suggested that prisoners should be allowed to vote from behind bars — a step further than Iowa seems willing to go.
“I think that is absolutely the direction we should go,” Sanders told the audience at Muscatine’s West Middle School.
The Register reports that Sanders’ home state of Vermont, and neighboring state, Maine, allow convicted felons to vote while they serve their prison sentences — the only two states in the country who recognize that right. Approximately 14 other states have done away with the idea that those who have committed serious and often violent crimes should be permanently barred from casting a ballot.
“In my state, what we do is separate. You’re paying a price, you committed a crime, you’re in jail. That’s bad,” Sanders told his audience. “But you’re still living in American society and you have a right to vote. I believe in that, yes, I do.”
In Iowa, the state may restore voting rights to convicted felons who have served their sentence on a case-by-case basis, but they’ve only begun to explore the possibility of restoring voting rights to felons across the board. A bill designed to do just that — expand voting rights to the formerly incarcerated — is now on hold in the Iowa legislature for a year after it was voted down.
Democrats have been pushing for felon voting rights for some time, and have had recent success in states like Florida, where voting rights were restored to the state’s convicted felon community just after the 2018 elections (that extension, though, is now in doubt after the Florida House passed a bill requiring felons to pay back all court fees and fines before gaining full access to their voting rights).
Republicans have fired back, insisting that while felons who have served their time have paid their debts to society, their obvious disregard for the law should keep them from participating in the democratic process for the long term.
Sanders may not be championing prisoners’ rights out of the goodness of his heart. Over the weekend, it became clear that Sanders has been trying to distance himself from the rest of the pack of Democratic contenders, often with far more extreme progressive policy positions than are shared even by the most progressive of his competitors.
On Saturday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) joined former Obama administration official Julian Castro, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) and former Rep. John Delaney (D-MD) at a “presidential forum” in Storm Lake, Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register, but Sanders declined to participate, preferring to give his own speech at his own rally.
Warren and others were asked the same question as Sanders — whether they would support extending voting rights to felons — but even Warren, who is racing to be the most far left of the remaining candidates, demurred from suggesting that felons should be allowed to vote in prison.
Src: The Daily Wire
Let’s see, if a convicted murdered who killed a couple of innocent children, and is incarcerated for life,,,has the same right to vote as I, who has never even had a parking ticket…I think Sanders is a babbling moron…he is so far to the left and a socialist, and determined to destroy America and all of it’s Christian values……..in other words screw him.
Agreed! Socialist morons!!
There was a time when a felon who served more than a year in prison lost there voting right completely. I think that should be brought back and anyone who even tries to vote and is not a citizen should ushered out of the country ASAP. The ability to vote is both a right and privilege for citizens of this country. That means on any level including local elections such as certain counties made up of liberal democrats that figure illegals will vote democrat.
The only reason they want to pass that law is because they want more votes and if the dems give them that right you know they will vote democrate. That is why they are so for letting illegals in and giving away the farm to them .
Thank you Robert, my sentiments exactly.
I think Bernie is in dire need of retirement.
State of Maine has the highest rate of insanity in the United States. I won’t follow them.
State of Maine has the highest rate of insanity in the United States. I won’t follow them.
I think it’s about time these clowns stopped the B.S. and got to the job they were elected to do.
how about that for a change?
Bernie is insane and stupid. Felons lost their right to vote when the committed the crime
He’s a freakin idiot, a felon loses all his rights when he or she commit a crime and is sent to prison. What a dolt
Criminals and illegals should NOT NOW OR EVER be permitted to vote. Welfare, Social Security, the ability file AND RECEIVE A REFUND from federal and state tax returns should not be permitted.
THis is what we have come to. Under Bernie’s plan why even go through the trouble of trials and imprisonment. The whole idea is to make the bad guys pay for their crimes. Maybe Bernie has gone over the edge as some have suggested. In the last election against Hillary he switched back and forth and in the end received a huge amount of money for his trouble. And his supporters got the royal screwing for their support.
This is just one step further for thes Commie/Socialists to inundate our laws and our Constitution plus, think about it if a criminal can vote, the why not an illegal alien or whoever comes to this country on a visa. This is nothing more than Democrats wanting of more voters to vote for insane policies. Pretty soon the criminals will be running our nation.
If all the Democrats brains were gathered together and placed on a razor blade, it would look like BB rolling down a four lane highway.
Where is an end to their madness?