Disenfranchised Voters - 6 Million Voices Silenced

Disenfranchised Voters: 6 Million Voices Silenced

Edward J Mccaleb

Davenport University

Mr. Erbe English 110

Abstract

This paper examines the increasing numbers of voters disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. It also takes a brief look at the origins and history of disenfranchised laws in Britain and colonial America. This paper examines the efforts being made to change voting laws to allow disenfranchised citizen rejuvenation of their right to vote once they complete their judge imposed sentence. The paper gives a brief history and several different examples of methods used to suppress the vote including Poll Tax laws, Voter role purging, and Prison-industry conglomeration. We continue by comparing historical laws designed to restrict voting to modern laws of the same nature. We further look to understand the reasons behind political involvement and efforts to decrease voter involvement in certain minority groups. Many disenfranchised voters in 2016 have completed their sentences and are now productive citizens working and living in society. Part of being a productive member of society is participation in the electoral process.  This paper explores recent attempts by several states and The Sentencing Project to restore voting right.

                                       Disenfranchised Voters: 6 Million Voices Silenced

Most can remember breaking one of our parents’ rules as a child. Imagine coming in past curfew as a teenager than being grounded, and receive a punishment of no car or phone for a week! How surprised would you be if after serving your week-long punishment you attempted to speak with your younger brother only to be informed that for the rest of your life you were no longer allowed communication with your siblings due to your past transgressions. Your dad tells you, “Hey you made a mistake we cannot take a chance that you will influence the other children”. Just a little excessive, and irrational, isn’t it? Many ex-felons face a similar reality once released from their court- imposed sentence, they are surprised to find out due to their felony conviction they are banned from voting for life. Criminal defendants are not informed of the collateral consequences of a felony guilty plea in court because it is not part of the judiciary sentence, but superfluous punishment which varies depending on the state in which you reside.

Uggen, Larson, and Shannon (2016) in The Sentencing Project paper wrote : “there were 1.7 million people in 1976 and 3.4 million in 1996 while in 2016 there are approximately 6.1 million voters who are prohibited from voting because of a past mistake resulting in a felony conviction “(p.2).The reality is that we live in a time where there are millions of people who have paid their debt to society yet are denied the basic freedom that democracy promises- the freedom to elect those who will make the rules and laws under which you exist.

These are not people currently serving a sentence or on probation for wrongdoing they have completed their sentences, yet twelve states refuse to restore their voting rights. Recent efforts to reverse this trend are gaining momentum however, these numbers continue to increase due to stringent sentencing guidelines and harsher criminal laws.

                                         Disenfranchisement Origins

 Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition of disenfranchise (2016) is, “to deprive of a franchise, of a legal right, or some privilege or immunity; especially: to deprive of the right to vote” (p.198). In Britain and colonial America, per Brooks (2004) Felony Disenfranchisement in the American Tradition of voter Exclusion,” a criminal was subject to “outlawry” which denied them their right to protection of the laws for his life and property. The first disenfranchisement laws appeared in American in the 1600’s for morality crimes such as public drunkenness” (p.5).

           By 1868 eighteen more states had adopted some form of felony disenfranchisement law, based on John Locke’s concept that people who break the law should not be able to participate in making rules for society (Brooks). After reconstruction, many southern states found themselves without the labor they needed to keep their farms and industries operational. These states soon decided to use the provisions in the 13th Amendment which allowed for “servitude as a punishment for breaking laws”. They further circumvented the right to vote and The Equal Protection Clause by focusing on the “due process of law” quote embedded in the Fourteenth Amendment. Many southern states proceeded to pass a series of laws designed specifically to target blacks, stagnating their newly found freedoms including the right to vote.

                 Exploring the Voters Rights Act and Voter Suppression

The presidential election of 1968 was a turbulent time in U.S history, but it was also the first time all citizens regardless of sex, race or creed could vote due to the recent passage of the Voters Rights Act. Per Miller (2006) “The goal of universal suffrage, which felony disenfranchisement undermines, is itself a relatively recent aspiration in American politics. Until the passage of the Voting Rights Act, some form of suppression was considered a legitimate aspect of politics” (p.33). To make rehabilitation and criminal penalties unilateral across the country Congress need act for the benefit of all citizens. The Voters Right Act in its simplest form should be applied to disenfranchised felons’ nationwide.

In the last three presidential elections voter suppression, which disenfranchisement falls under has been a major issue. The 2000 Presidential election was decided by less than one thousand votes and could have easily been turned for Gore had the disenfranchised voters of Florida been allowed to vote. As Uggen et al. (2016) stated, “The state of Florida alone accounts for more than a quarter (27 percent) of the disenfranchised population nationally, and its nearly 1.5 million individuals disenfranchised post-sentence account for nearly half (48 percent) of the national total” (para.2). Voter suppression combined with disenfranchised individuals shall continue to influence the outcome of elections, until laws are revised.

Finally, we must look at the racial makeup of the disenfranchised voter, which is overwhelmingly minority. History has shown that disenfranchisement of black votes was a major motive of many laws. After the Civil War ended and reconstruction began laws started to appear almost immediately to disenfranchise the African American voter. Many laws were unwritten and intimidation was the rule by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and The Knights of Columbus blacks could be lynched for attempting to exercise their right to vote. In most Southern States, local municipalities used various methods to disenfranchise black voter. As quoted in Voting Rights in America, by civil rights attorney Armand Derfner (1992) “Local authorities displayed limitless energy and ingenuity in their efforts to disenfranchise black men and women…. Each time one tactic was eliminated, another [law]would replace it until Congress could be stirred to act….” (p.8). The fact is that local laws could be created to label people as felons faster than they could be struck down or reversed by Federal courts, making it easy to disqualify large amounts of people.