Make a Deal

Democrats want "felons" to vote. I think they should have that right, but I think this could be paired with increased voting integrity to combat opportunities for vote fraud.

By "felons" they mean "ex-felons." While imprisoned, these people naturally should not be able to vote.

I did research on this issue when I worked on policy at the state level. I can state my views now, of course. I think that if a person has served their time, the state has said that the person has been punished for their crime. If they've been punished for their crimes, they've been punished for their crimes. Stop punishing them.

If they haven't been punished enough, why are they being released?

Let ex-felons vote unless deemed unfit to vote, rather than having the default being loss of voting rights for life with perhaps an option--sometimes so difficult as to be virtually impossible--to petition to restore this civil liberty.

The problem comes from the rather delicate problem for the Democrats that ex-felons are a natural Democratic constituency. And it might turn off some voters to appear so pro-felon. So the issue splits Democrats. Republicans naturally don't want to increase the rolls of Democratic voters.

I think Republicans worry too much. Yes, ex-felons will vote overwhelmingly Democratic. But their voting participation rate and even registration rate are bound to be low. In practice, they aren't going to add much to the rolls. And you still get to point out that people who have committed major crimes are a natural Democratic constituency. If the loyal opposition is going to charge that every Republican voter is a secret member of the Klan, I say have at it.

But what I think Republicans can legitimately worry about is the new opportunity for Democratic operatives to cast ballots illegally using these registered ex-felons.

So Republicans could trade loosening restrictions on ex-felons voting in exchange for voting integrity laws that make sure people who show up to vote are lawfully registered and eligible to vote--and are who they claim to be--and that they just vote once.

I can't in good conscience say that ex-felons should not be able to vote just because they are going to vote for the other party. But I can't just ignore the likelihood that the same opposition will commit voter fraud using these ex-felons who normally won't bother to show up and vote--or even register.

Will Democrats really stand against expanding the franchise under these conditions? If so, it would say a lot about their intentions, no?