English Comprehension

Should Prisoners be Allowed to Cast Vote?

Argumentative Essay

Prisoners should be able to vote , Prisoners are citizens too. They may have committed a felony, but they are still citizens of their home country. Some people think prisoners should not have the right to vote, but many others think they should. About two million people in U.S. are in prison. All those people do not get to cast a vote in the election.

They are not able to decide who runs the country they live in. Imagine not being able to have a say in our country. We are a democracy, which means everyone has the right to vote in our government. Prisoners should be allowed to vote because they still are citizens and still have rights. 

Prisoners should be able to vote and influence the outcome of an election. If all the prisoners were allowed to vote it may have an impact on the election. Prisoners want the chance to vote. But many countries restrict the right of those sentenced to imprisonment to vote in elections.

For example, convicted prisoners are automatically banned from voting in Pakistan, Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Luxemburg, Romania, Russia and the United Kingdom. In Australia, prisoners are only entitled to vote if they are serving a sentence of less than three years.

As of February 2011 the United States was in the lead of number of prisoners with 2,019,234. Prisoners do not have say in the

government. In Pakistan 80 169 at April 2015 (Law and Justice Commission

of Pakistan).In New York people who are on parole cannot vote. As of 2004 thirty-five states forbid people who have just been released from prison to vote. 

In the constitution it states everyone is given the right to vote. Amendment 15 is the voting rights act. In the first section of this amendment, it states the right to vote cannot be taken away from people based on their color, race, or what has happened previously in their life. That amendment is not being applied to the rights of prisoners. Only two states, Vermont and Maine, let everyone vote without ever stripping away rights.

In Vermont the voting laws are you

have to be a citizen of the United

States, a resident of Vermont, has

taken voters oath, and 18 years or

older to vote, this means that

prisoners can vote there. In the second

section it states that congress is

supposed to enforce the first one. In

47 states prisoners cannot vote; in

Maine an incarcerated person is

allowed to vote. Congress has only

protected this amendment in two

states.

We are a democracy. In a democracy everyone has a say in the government. The voting rules are different for prisoners in each state. In some states prisoners voting rights have to be restored. In South Dakota felons must serve their full term of incarceration, parole, or probation before they are allowed to register to vote. In Washington, felons have to wait to be off parole to be able to vote.

In some states, prisoners cannot get their voting rights back once they have left prison if they have committed a very serious crime. In Alabama, most felons have to apply to get their voting rights back, but if the felon committed a very serious crime like a murder, or treason they cannot get their rights back

Those 2 million people would make a difference. When the election comes up their voting could make a difference in who gets elected. We are a democracy. Everyone has a say in government. Just because they have committed a crime does not mean their voting rights should be taken away.

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