Rep. Pressley introduces legislation to guarantee right to vote for people with felonies on record
Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont submitted the legislation, named the Inclusive Democracy Act, on Tuesday which would guarantee the right to vote in federal elections for all citizens regardless of their criminal record.
In a statement, Pressley said the legislation was necessary due to policies and court rulings that “continue to disenfranchise voters from all walks of life — including by gutting the Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering, cuts to early voting, and more.” Welch called the bill necessary due to “antiquated state felony disenfranchisement laws.”
In late 2022, approximately 4.6 million people were unable to vote due to a felony conviction, according to a study by the Sentencing Project, a nonpartisan research group. The same study found that Black and Hispanic citizens are disproportionately likely to be disenfranchised due to felony
They should all be able to vote. From prison, too. The punishment never needs to be to take their voting rights away. If they commit fraud, stop them from committing fraud again.
I think if you're overthrowing the government, you're basically tapping out of the democracy. That's literally the only crime I could see not being allowed to vote. I also think they should be removed from the country they tried to destroy. But then I have no idea how would they remain detained in that situation.
If they are not allowed to vote then by all rights they shouldn't be taxed as well.
Yup. I'm good for that. Prisoners shouldn't be making enough to be taxed.
So we just make them legitimate sovereign citizens?
What happens when they start to organize and try to create a new country within the United States?
Edit: weird downvotes, I'm asking questions
Make a new permanent US penal colony, call it New Australia, located in Texas. TX as been wanting to secede anyway, let's give them a helping hand. Deport all seditionists there with all visa/passport privileges being revoked.
And the final chef's-kiss: Enact all of the cruel immigration laws against New Australia that they've been wanting so bad, see how they like it.
Hmmm, the more I think about it the more I like this plan. I vote for New Australia. It fits U.S. naming conventions too!
What's your understanding of "sovereign citizen"? Asking in good faith.
I mean, we have Amish in the US. That's a kind of sovereign citizen, right?
Well I'm basing it off of the google definition..
I mean we'd basically be making them the same thing, no? Only legitimate?
I see what you're saying
The Amish are just members of a fairly extreme religion. They don't reject the existence of government itself. Sovereign citizens are people that believe they aren't subject to the laws of the country the reside in.
I'd prefer compulsory voting from all able people of voting age. Prisons should have full in-person voting locations with private voting booths. Mail-in ballots should be a freely available option for all.
It doesn't guarantee good results, but I feel it is the most straightforward way to rid ourselves of voter suppression campaigns, which I think are fundamentally evil.
What's the punishment for failing to vote? It would just end up being a poor tax.
It's not much of a tax when it can be "paid" by sending a piece of paper through the mail, postage-paid.
Australia does this. It works out very well.
Hey, you're talking to the country that has you actively apply to get a right to vote. The US is seemingly incapable of keeping track of their own citizens.
Give the IRS more funding and we will have little trouble keeping track of everyone.
Yeah, I just wrote another comment and noticed that the government probably has addresses because the IRS needs those to function.
Homeless people will rejoice for sure.
Homeless people get counted on the census.
They don't consistently receive mail and are often on drugs. Fines for not voting are absurd.
Do you think that's how it works in Australia, where voting is compulsory? Or do you think they've found ways to accommodate for that?
I'd hope they accommodate for it. I don't trust the US government to not fuck it up.
Personally I hate the concept of compulsory almost anything. If you have a right to vote you have a right to protest elections as well.
Compulsory voting doesn't mean you literally have to vote for something. You can cast a blank ballot in protest. Sales tax is compulsory. Gas tax is compulsory. There are lots of things that are already compulsory.