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Bernie Sanders: Everyone deserves to vote, even felons like Paul Manafort & Michael Cohen
Bernie Sanders, Opinion contributor
April 30, 2019
Committing a serious crime shouldn't strip people of their basic right to be a citizen and active participant in our democracy.
Excerpts:
If we are serious about calling ourselves a democracy, we must firmly establish that the right to vote is an inalienable and universal principle that applies to all American citizens 18 years and older. Period. As American citizens all of us are entitled to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and all the other freedoms enshrined in our Bill of Rights. We are also entitled to vote. Yes. Even if Trump’s former campaign manager and personal lawyer end up in jail, they should still be able to vote — regardless of who they cast their vote for.
This is not a radical idea. Vermont and Maine allow inmates to vote and more than 30 nations — including Israel, South Africa, and Canada — also understand that voting rights for all citizens is a basic principle of democracy.
This should not devolve into a debate about whether certain people are “good enough” to have the right to vote. Voting is not a privilege. It is a right. In my view, the crooks on Wall Street who caused the great recession of 2008 that hurt millions of Americans are not "good" people. But they have the right to vote, and it should never be taken away.
The reason why this issue is so important right now is that Trump and cowardly Republican politicians all over this country are working overtime to suppress the vote. Instead of trying to increase voter turnout, they are making it harder for people to participate in the political process.
In Florida, the Republican legislature is trying to undermine the will of 64 percent of the people who voted to reenfranchise formerly incarcerated people. In Georgia, we have a Republican governor who took office by instituting barriers to voting for people of color. In Tennessee, the Republican legislature is trying to shut down groups who do voter registration work. In New Hampshire and Iowa, the Republicans have tried to make it harder for college students to vote.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/04/30/bernie-sanders-felons-deserve-vote-participate-democracy-suppression-trump-column/3621258002/
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