Right now, an estimated 5.3 million people are being denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction, many of them living and working in our communities. This number of disenfranchised people and the patchwork of laws that determine their rights are not to be taken lightly, or applied arbitrarily. As former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black said, “No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.”
But, with felon disenfranchisement, the right to vote is not merely being undermined; it is being explicitly revoked by the government. So, there should be a really compelling reason to deny so many millions of people the right to vote.
However, there is no such reason. The purposes of imposing criminal penalties on an individual are to punish individuals for committing crimes and to rehabilitate them so they can become contributing members of society. Disenfranchisement is being used as a criminal penalty, so presumably, disenfranchisement must serve one of these purposes.
Disenfranchisement actually undermines the ability of a convicted felon to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into their community. Voting is a communal act, and Election Day is a powerful reminder that every individual has a stake and a voice in the future of their community. Yet, felons are prohibited by law from participating in this extremely important communal event. Every Election Day, they are reminded of their crime and ostracized from the rest of the community. In many states, this ostracism continues long after the individual has served his time, completed his probation, and atoned for his crime. Actively denying ex-felons a voice in their community is the opposite of rehabilitation and reintegration.
So, the only remaining potential purpose for felon disenfranchisement is to punish and deter individuals for committing felonies. However, it is not just the individual who is being punished through disenfranchisement. Again, voting is a communal act, and when one voice is silenced, the entire community suffers. One less voter means that the community as a whole has less of a voice in their government.
Read more on voting rights restoration here.
Anthony Balady is a legal intern at Project Vote and second-year student at William & Mary Law School. Mr. Balady also serves as vice president of William & Mary’s Election Law Society and editor-in-chief of its election law blog, State of Elections.