Felon Disenfranchisement

In the New York Times editorial “Florida’s 1.5 Million Missing Voters,” written by The Editorial Board, the topic of felon disenfranchisement is brought up and has been a major issue in the first few days of the new year. Majority believe Felon Disenfranchisement is “...a destructive, pointless policy...” that hurts not only the people not allowed to vote, but the American democracy itself. Another topic in this discussion is the restoration of rights for those who have served their time. Correspondingly, many elected representatives are fighting to have this policy revoked and to give the right to vote back to many people. However, other representatives such as governor Rick Scott, made some biased decisions. For example, a man who was charged with manslaughter due to drunk driving was pleading with Scott about gaining back his rights, but the governor didn’t give him the time of day because that was how his uncle died. Many have explicitly stated that this policy is absurd. The right to vote should be given to everyone and only be withheld under extreme circumstances. The restoration of rights shouldn’t depend on the whims of the governor. In like manner, the governor is no friend to voting rights, and lawmakers have limited power when it comes to constitutional amendments. For this reason, Florida’s voters need to step up and help restore the most fundamental constitutional right to more than a million of their fellow citizens.