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Should Felons be Allowed to Vote in the State of Florida?

Voting is an integral part of any democracy, whereby the citizens are allowed to choose their leaders. The United States is a democratic nation, and this implies that its citizens are privileged to exercise democracy at will. However, not all citizens can exercise this right freely, with some states in the U.S barring felons from casting a ballot. One such state is Florida, where felons are required to pay exorbitant fees and clear all financial obligations to be cleared to vote. However, not all felons can raise the fees, with an estimated 774,000 felons due to Florida’s financial obligation (Phillips, Anthony & Deckard 12). Thus, this means that a large bloc of felons is locked out of the voting process, raising the debate as to whether felons should be allowed to vote or not. On one side, allowing felons to vote can be argued on several fronts, that felons have served their sentence and should be allowed to vote and that denying felons the right to vote strips a population of their power in the democratic process and therefore infringes on their right to equality. On the other side, the argument maintaining restricting felons’ right to vote states that offenders cannot be trusted to vote based on their criminal past and, thus, cannot be trusted to make good decisions.

One argument given in support of felons being allowed to vote is that felons have paid back their dues to society and should have all their rights restored in serving a prison sentence (Stockman 1). The prison system is designed to allow the judicial system to punish citizens who have essentially strayed from the law. While in incarceration, felons suffer from limited rights and freedoms and undergo rehabilitative programs that will allow them to reintegrate back to society. Therefore, when felons are released from the prison system, it is expected that they have changed and can be allowed to return is normal, and the normal includes having all their rights restored, including their right to vote.

Another argument in support of the right to vote is that, denying felons the right to vote strips a population of their power in the democratic process and therefore infringes on their right to equality. Felons form a part of the population in the state of Florida. Therefore, they should have equal rights as other members of the state. However, felons find themselves segregated in the important process of choosing leaders by-laws that bar them from voting. Consequently, the inequality affects felon’s right to choose leaders who will make a favorable policy. 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.

The counter-argument given for denying felons the right to vote is that by performing acts of crime, society cannot trust felons to make good judgments (Riggs 111). Citizens who choose to break the law purposefully choose to go against laws that are put in place to allow for the state’s smooth functioning. As such, felons have deliberately chosen to go against law, and their judgment 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.

The right to vote forms the basis of a successful democracy (Stockman, 1). Furthermore, felons have indeed served their punishment for the crimes, and thus deserve to be treated equally as reformed society members. The counter-argument that felons should not be allowed to vote based on their criminal past negates the basis of rehabilitating them in the first place, and thus, restricting them from voting cannot be justified. Therefore, considering weight of the arguments, I believe that felons should be given the right to vote in the state of Florida, and consequently, in every state in the United States.

Work Cited

Farah Stockman, ‘They Served Their Time. Now they’re fighting for Other Ex-Felons to Vote.’ (2018) Retrieved From: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/11/us/voting-rights-felons.html

Phillips, Anthony Jamal, and Natalie Deckard. “Felon disenfranchisement laws and the feedback loop of political exclusion: The case of Florida.” Journal of African American Studies 20.1 (2016): 1-18.

Riggs, Allison J. “Felony Disenfranchisement in Florida: Past, Present and Future.” JCR & Econ. Dev. 28 (2015): 107.