Should ex-felons be allowed to vote?

[Terraceth]

You think it should be automatic?

I don't really care much either way, I just don't have a problem with the idea of them voting after finishing their prison sentence and any probation/parole. Given that more severe crimes generally cause longer punishments, it seems to me that there's a built-in system to make worse crimes deprive you of voting for a longer period.

I believe that people voting while in prison is absurd, however.

[Sparko]

Could it also be a reinstatement that actually makes sense, and not the Florida version where its a jury of three people who arbitrarily (in their own admission) decides whether a person should or should not be allowed to vote again.

There's a rather chilling example of a black man who had crossed all the t's and dotted all the i's, was a church goer (one of the few instances in the US where religion may be applied in a test - one of the "judges" always asks about it), had lived upstandingly for a decade. And he still was turned down. When he asked why, or when he could expect their decision to change, the man in charge just shrugged and smiled and said something to the effect of "Well.. I don't know, I can't give you an answer now. Try again some other time."

At least we should be able to agree that there should be a just and transparent pathway to get those rights restored again.

Edit: Just found out that Florida did vote on it, and have given ex-felons the right to vote. Though Republican law makers threw in a change requiring all fee's and fines be paid back in full before they were restored. As a left-leaning scoundrel, I'll have to say this looks very much like the Republicans simply rewarding wealthy people, and/or (more likely) protecting their voting base, without an actual concern for whether what they do is just here.

That last bit would probably be more about paying back what they have stolen from others, and not "being wealthy" - it would actually mean that felon's who "got wealthy" stealing from others would have to pay it all back.