US: People with criminal records demand to be allowed to vote

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) estimates that US states strip 4.6 million people with felony convictions of their right to vote.

People vote early in New York, USA on October 26 - Photo: AFP

According to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), each state in the US has different regulations on revoking the right to vote for people with criminal records. In the states of California and Minnesota, only people who are currently serving a sentence are not allowed to vote. Those who have served a sentence can vote as normal eligible citizens. Meanwhile, the state of Virginia is famous for having the strictest regulations on voting for people with criminal records. Accordingly, anyone convicted of a felony will be banned from voting. Those who have completed their sentence and paid all related fines can only submit a request to restore their voting rights to the governor of Virginia. Whether these people have their voting rights restored or not will depend on the governor's review process. Some states have regulations that distinguish between violent and non-violent crimes. Chris Kaiser, policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said it can be difficult for people convicted of violent crimes to regain their voting rights. But George Hawkins, a felon who has been in prison since he was 17 and is serving a 13-year sentence through May 2023, said the distinction is unfair.

“Behind the prison walls, everyone is the same. We eat from the same pot, we use the same bathroom,” said Hawkins, who was convicted of attempted murder. Hawkins is one of more than 300,000 Virginians who have been stripped of their right to vote because of a felony conviction. “Some crimes are so serious that they warrant life in prison. But this is no longer the Middle Ages, so other crimes should be re-examined. Once a person has paid their debt, they can re-enter society,” Kaiser said. In 2023, a spokesperson for the governor of Virginia said that Governor Glenn Youngkin believes strongly in the importance of giving former Virginians a second chance. “These men and women are moving from being locked up in prison to being locked up in society,” said Christa Ellison, executive director of Freedom Over Everything, an organization that advocates for the rights of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in Virginia.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/my-nhung-nguoi-co-tien-an-doi-duoc-di-bo-phieu-bau-cu-20241028194659998.htm