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Did You Know? International Comparison of Felon Voting Laws

Submitted by David Borden on (Issue #736)
Drug War Issues
Felony Disenfranchisement

Did you know that the US is an exception in restricting voting rights of ex-felons after they complete their sentences? A 2003 study of 45 democracies (including those with supporting documentation found in constitutions, electoral laws or other documents) found just five countries with such restrictions, one applying them only rarely through judicial orders. Read about it in International Comparison of Felon Voting Laws, on http://felonvoting.procon.org, part of the ProCon.org family.


This concludes Drug War Chronicle's ProCon.org Did You Know series. For more info, sign up for ProCon.org's email list or RSS feed, and click here for last week's Chronicle Did You Know segment. ProCon.org is a web site promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan primarily pro-con format.

We will return to ProCon.org in the fall. Next month we visit Drug War Facts.

Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.

Comments

mixwoods (not verified)

Here's a chance for some useful research-- find out how much stop, frisk, arrest, prosecution, labeling as "felons" of persons who trafficked with cannabis (which may mean got together with friends to buy some) adds up to electoral differences which presumably most often benefit the Republican Party (voting base 20 points more anti-cannabis-legalization; usually receives about twice as much TOBACCKGO campaign help money as Democrats).

Fri, 06/01/2012 - 5:22pm Permalink

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