Op-Ed: The Felon Vote

March 1, 2005
New York Post

By John R. Lott Jr. & James K. Glassman

In the wake of their election defeat, Democrats have promised to mend their ways by emphasizing moral values. So, in their first major legislative initiative of the year, what are the party's two top senators offering? A bill to guarantee that millions of convicted murderers, rapists and armed robbers can vote.

This week, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry will officially introduce the Count Every Vote Act, which she claims is "critical to restoring America's faith in our voting system." Among the provisions: A measure to insure that voting rights are restored to "felons who have repaid their debt to society" by completing their prison terms, parole or probation.

Sen. Clinton says there are 4.7 million such disenfranchised felons in 48 states and the District of Columbia.

The power to deny voting rights to ex-convicts now rests with the states, so standards vary across the country. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution explicitly allows for states to deny felons the right to vote.

Clinton and Kerry do have good reason to want ex-convicts to vote: Felons overwhelmingly vote for Democrats.

Click here to read the entire op-ed in the New York Post.