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Should felons be allowed to vote? Should felons be allowed to vote?
Felons should be allowed to vote once they have served their sentence Felons should be allowed to vote once they have served their sentence
Felons should never be allowed to vote Felons should never be allowed to vote
Felons should be able to vote even while in prison Felons should be able to vote even while in prison
Some felons should retain their voting rights Some felons should retain their voting rights
We should leave this decision up to each state We should leave this decision up to each state
Felons have paid their debt to society Felons have paid their debt to society
No taxation without representation No taxation without representation
Voting is a privilege Voting is a privilege
Felons should not have a say in society Felons should not have a say in society
Felons have not proven that they should be allowed to vote Felons have not proven that they should be allowed to vote
The criminal justice system targets minorities The criminal justice system targets minorities
Felons are still citizens Felons are still citizens
Voting is a right Voting is a right
Felons who have not committed egregious crimes should be able to vote Felons who have not committed egregious crimes should be able to vote
States should make decisions about felony disenfranchisement independently States should make decisions about felony disenfranchisement independently
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Should felons be allowed to vote?
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We should leave this decision up to each state

< (5 of 5)

States should make decisions about felony disenfranchisement independently

We should not try to arrive at a universal decision regarding voting laws or felony disenfranchisement because the Constitution originally left this decision up to the states.
John Roberts
< (1 of 1)

The Argument

The United States' founders intended for state governments to run federal elections. They clearly established this in Article 1 of the Constitution [1] and in the 10th Amendment. [2] Thus, creating federal laws about felony disenfranchisement is a violation of the Constitution. The federal government has no right to intervene because this is a states' rights issue. Instead of trying to create universal legislation against this practice, activists should focus on appealing to their local governments. Naturally, each state will arrive at a slightly different approach to felony disenfranchisement. States already have different felony voting laws, with some completely disenfranchising felons and others, like Maine and Vermont, not disenfranchising them at all. [3]

Counter arguments

In past times, states refused to outlaw horrific practices. For example, a number of states refused to outlaw slavery before the federal government intervened. We cannot use states' rights as an excuse not to appeal to the federal government for change, especially if this is the most effective way of reforming disenfranchisement laws.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] The Constitution says that states should determine who vote.

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.usa.gov/voting-laws
  2. https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-x#:~:text=The%20powers%20not%20delegated%20to,respectively%2C%20or%20to%20the%20people.
  3. https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/6-million-lost-voters-state-level-estimates-felony-disenfranchisement-2016/
This page was last edited on Friday, 24 Jul 2020 at 01:31 UTC