Sunday, March 27, 2005

FELONS VOTE!!! So what?

Is it just me who isn't terribly bothered by the screaming headlines saying 82 felons voted in Milwaukee?

The headlline is supposed to make you say, in horror, "How could that happen?"

It made me say, "Why can't felons vote, anyway? Who cares?"

Well, it is against the law in Wisconsin for a convicted felon to vote until he/she has completed serving a full sentence, including probation and parole.

But some of them have voted anyway. Scary, huh?

The search for a solution is underway -- and it is a nightmare.

Republican State Chairman Rick Graber had the same solution he always does: Make everyone show photo ID cards. But those felons were voting under their own names. It's hard to imagine that anyone impersonated a felon to vote. So a photo ID wouldn't help.

One idea is to identify all of the felons on the voter list and put a note next to their names saying they are felons and can't vote.

But that would only help for felons who are registered. A felon who is not registered to vote could register at the polls, on election day, showing a photo ID, and vote. (Apparently some felons registered at the polls in November.)

So, next idea: Put all of the felons on the voter list with a note next to their name, even if they haven't registered. That wouldn't really accomplish the Republican goals of both requiring photo IDs and ending same-day registration. But at least it would reduce the number of people voting (especially in Milwaukee), which is their real goal.

It is getting a little complicated and expensive, though, don't you think?

And for what?

Whether felons vote or not is up to each state. Some let them vote. Others ban them from voting for life. Those in the middle, like Wisconsin, let them vote after they have "paid their debts to society" and are no longer under state supervision.

So here's my idea: Let's not let felons vote while they're in prison. But let's allow them to vote once they get out.

What are we afraid of? That they will all come out in some February election, like the last one when the turnout percentage was in single digits, and elect a bunch of criminals to the school board? We could have used the turnout in my ward.

Want to know more about why states passed such laws to begin with? Here's a link to a semi-reliable source,The Straight Dope

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