by TChris

A NY Times editorial calls attention to the need to reform laws that bar people from voting after being convicted of a felony -- laws that disenfranchise nearly five million potential voters.

Denying the vote to ex-offenders is antidemocratic, and undermines the nation's commitment to rehabilitating people who have paid their debt to society. Felon disenfranchisement laws also have a sizable racial impact: 13 percent of black men have had their votes taken away, seven times the national average. But even if it were acceptable as policy, denying felons the vote has been a disaster because of the chaotic and partisan way it has been carried out.

As TalkLeft discussed yesterday, Florida exemplifies the political nature of felon disenfranchisement. But 35 states "prohibit at least some people from voting after they have been released from prison." The varying rules "are often highly technical, and little effort is made to explain them to election officials or to the people affected."

The treatment of former felons in the electoral system cries out for reform. The cleanest and fairest approach would be simply to remove the prohibitions on felon voting. In his State of the Union address in January, President Bush announced a new national commitment to helping prisoners re-enter society. Denying them the right to vote belies this commitment.