Argumentative Essay On Right To Vote

The right to vote is a central part of any democracy, but most democratic countries have significant limits on who can and cannot vote. According to Professor Christopher Uggen, there are 5.6 million Americans of voting age who are disenfranchised by state laws that “restrict voting rights for those convicted of serious crimes.” In eleven US states even “ex-felons” who have served their sentence and parole are still prohibited from voting. In 1976, 1.2 million people living in America lost their right to vote due to felony convictions as of April 2014 the number has gone up to 6 million. (Spates 14) Flashback to 1800, there was no states that prohibited felons from voting. (Holding) The reality is people of color are directly affected by these …show more content…
(Spates 8) Disenfranchisement laws that place voting bans upon individuals with felony convictions takes us farther away from being a true democratic society. What is more importantly to note is the public’s desire to maximize democratic rights is opposite of the government’s stance. An average of about 64% of Americans favor restoring voting rights to those who have exited prison or on parole. Support drops to about half of that percentage for those currently in prison. (Uggen 2) The democratic process was put in place so every citizen could voice their options and have a say in the government but that’s not true of our democratic government. Our government took advantage of the U.S. Constitution not explicitly stating which “citizens” could vote, in turn it allowed the states to institute policies based on their own interpretation of Constitutional rights. (Spates 10) The U.S has made many attempts to rectify it voting policies throughout history. Despite efforts to overcome discrimination we had made an underclass in our society which silences felons indefinitely. By disqualifying from being able to vote we communicate to them that they are not need in our