Should Inmates Have the Right to Vote?

The argument that I shall make today is that inmates should have the right to vote

Inmates should get the right to vote as giving them the right to vote does not only benefit themselves as it lets them know that they still have some form of power, but it is also because it is of their right to vote, as it not only already exists today but it is stated in the 15th, 19th, and several other amendments that they can vote, along with it being beneficial to the states and the united states as it allows more votes to be tallied.

Though not all states allow inmate voting, such as Vermont and Maine, and some only allow those with certain records or crimes, such as Mississippi, most states in the United States allow inmate voting. But even with this, through research and experimenting, it is stated by Nicole D. Porter (The director of Advocacy at The Sentencing Project and engaged in voting rights and advocacy for criminal justice), most inmates do not actually in fact vote. We all know, or get the impression what prisons are like. . . Whether it be from a movie, criminal justice, or some other form of contact, the picture and idea of prison are not the best living styles. As such these living styles can have an effect on inmates, so even if they do not vote, allowing inmates the option makes them aware of their power and their rights still as an American. Overall making a benefit to their mental state, even if it is just a little.

Though voting is not mandatory, many constitutional amendments have been changed and ratified since the first election, and have made sure to make clear that every person has the right to vote. For example, it was within the fourteenth amendment that the states have the full power to restrict an individual’s right to vote. This had the main purpose of preventing voters who had a criminal conviction, after that more penalties were expanded, and real change to voting rights for inmates happened through the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But even with this, only two states restrict voting rights based on their felony crime, thus being Maine and Vermont.

As I have said in my previous claim, it would boost their mental states, it also lets them know that they er being acknowledge still by Americans and the fact that they are still American citizens. As it shows, in prison, inmates do not get acknowledged too much. A good percentage of Americans forget about these inmates purely on the fact that they are bad people, animals who don’t deserve to vote. But we have to see that they are citizens as well and that they are still human. Letting America and Inmates still acknowledge each other is beneficial for both sides.

Prison should be a place where inmates are rehabilitated after committing a crime and are allowed to reflect and feel remorse in order to prepare themselves for life outside prison. During this time, they should not be making decisions about a society that they currently aren't living in. They should focus on bettering themselves instead.

Over the last few decades, states have been trying to give voting rights back to inmates at some point either while in prison or when they are released. Currently, there are only two states, Maine and Vermont, where felons never lose the right to vote. In the rest of the states, inmates lose their right to vote while incarcerated but depending on the state, they get their rights immediately restored after release, have to wait until after probation to get the right restored, or they never get the right to vote back (Potyondy, 2021). Inmates should not be allowed to vote while incarcerated because voting is a privilege, they cannot be trusted, and they have to be proven worthy to be reintegrated back into the voting system.

Once a person commits a crime, their right to vote should get taken away. Their votes can “dilute the vote of law-abiding citizens” (Congressional Record, 2002). We should reserve votes for people who have proven what it means to be a good citizen of the United States instead of granting it to people who have not abided by basic social contracts. If you commit a crime, you have shown that you don't care about the well-being of others and the community so you should be allowed to place to vote as you don't have the best interests of the country in mind.

Inmates cannot be trusted while they are in jail. While being incarcerated, prisoners have limited access to the internet (Tynan, 2016). They can receive access to the news through radios and TV channels that the prisoners themselves have to pay for (Zoukis, 2021). While this may be unfair, it still means that they have limited access to knowledge about what is going on outside of the prisons. If they are allowed to vote, prisoners are going to end up casting ballots while being uneducated on what they are voting on. An uneducated decision is not the best decision for the country. Some prisoners also cannot be trusted for other reasons like the crimes they committed. For example, it would be wrong to allow a sex offender to vote on laws involving women’s safety (Lott, 2019). Some prisoners are not in the right minds to be voting in important decisions and think in ways that might be harmful to society. In prison, inmates need to realize that what they did is wrong, which some may not have realized yet, making them untrustworthy to vote.

Once an inmate has completed their sentence and has proven to the country that they have seen the error of their ways is when they should be allowed to vote again. While in prison, you have a debt to pay. Prison should be a place for rehabilitation rather than punishment, but one of the first steps to rehabilitation is recognizing that you did something wrong (Benson, 2003). If prisoners are given the power to vote and have not reached a state of remorse they will make bad decisions. They can receive the right to vote again once they have completed their sentence and have noticed what they did wrong in the past.

Some can argue that inmates should have the right to vote by the 15th Amendment of the Constitution which states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” (Constitution Annotated). This amendment is not regarding the right to vote of prisoners, it was initially made to allow African Americans and former slaves to vote.

In conclusion, prison inmates should not be able to vote. They should be given the right back after their sentence is completed and they see what they did wrong, which most states will agree with. They can reintegrate back into society when they have proven to the community that they have changed and made an attempt to become a good citizen.