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[Lightning Count]

Guess I'm in the severe minority. I'm completely okay with a convicted felon forever being a second class citizen, but that opinion is heavily influenced by the view I have of felons that I know personally. Every last one of them is a complete sack of shit, and I'd prefer that they not be allowed to participate in any decisions that affect me in even the smallest way. These people are so god damned meth'd out and untrustworthy that they shouldn't be allowed to vote just on merit.

I realize that for a lot of you this opinion carries a racial connotation, but where I live it's damn near 100% white, including the felons.

Cruz or Trump?

We should be helping addicts get clean (you mention meth users), not smacking them down with an iron fist and treating them as second class citizens.

 

[Chie Satonaka]

All felons, including those currently serving time in prison, should be permitted to vote.

Agreed 100%.

 

[Gattsu25]

All felons, including those currently serving time in prison, should be permitted to vote.

Yeah, this is my stance on this, as well

 

[Squirrel Killer]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the right to vote isnt protected by the constitution

Ok, you're wrong.

Compare "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech..." (1st) to "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged..." (15th & 19th.) Both the right to speech and the right to vote (as are most others) are granted in the same manner.

 

[Slo]

So the person that got an unwarranted felony charge or is a felon but isn't a crackhead should be a second class citizen forever because some crack heads you know and probably wouldn't even bother voting if they could might actually decide to vote?

I think you overstate the rate at which people in general are convicted of felonies.

Cruz or Trump?
.

Hillary. Why oh why, might I ask, would you assume that I was voting Republican?

 

[Royal_Phalanx]

Good. Making people who have paid their debts to society permanent second class citizens is immoral. After their time is served they should have the same rights as any other citizen to participate in deciding how their society is governed.

 

[Toa TAK]

Huh.

Doing something right, VA.

 

[platocplx]

Honestly made no sense, You commit a felony and do your time you should have all your rights back as a citizen, disenfranchising people after that is a big reason for recidivism. Honestly I think as long as they didnt commit a violent crime they also should just automatically get their record expunged after a following terms after release.

 

[Lightning Count]

I think you overstate the rate at which people in general are convicted of felonies.



Hillary. Why oh why, might I ask, would you assume that I was voting Republican?

Your views seem more in with Republicans policies than Democrats in my opinion.

Nothing to say about my point regarding those convicted on drugs charges?

 

[Squirrel Killer]

You commit a felony and do your time you should have all your rights back as a citizen, disenfranchising people after that is a big reason for recidivism.

I'd love to see a source for the bolded.

 

[Dali]

I think you overstate the rate at which people in general are convicted of felonies.



Hillary. Why oh why, might I ask, would you assume that I was voting Republican?

What does the rate have to do with anything? I was referring to trumped up charges and people that should not be charged with felonies that are.

 

[Netherscourge]

"All convicted felons who have completed the terms of their sentence and their parole or probation will be eligible to vote immediately"

I have no problem with this.

 

[GaimeGuy]

I agree as well but our courts have ruled that felons lose certain rights.

Then they aren't rights.

 

[hiryu64]

McAuliffe stays winning; proud of my former governor and to have helped vote him in. Too bad the House of Delegates insists on being as uncooperative as possible.

 

[A Link to the Past]

I think you overstate the rate at which people in general are convicted of felonies.



Hillary. Why oh why, might I ask, would you assume that I was voting Republican?

Because your post is the most backwards thinking I've seen all week.

Then they aren't rights.

They can still be rights - it's not as though the US has no history of denying people things that we absolutely consider rights.

 

[The Faceless Master]

All convicted felons who have completed the terms of their sentence and their parole or probation will be eligible to vote immediately

who thinks this is a BAD idea!?!?!

if you did the time, you should be able to vote.

 

[Johndoey]

Alright, this is fantastic.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I'LL BE BACK.

YOU CAN'T KEEP THE DEMOCRATS OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE FOREVER

AND WHEN THEY GET IN, I'M BACK ON THE STREETS!

I loled.

Spoiler

Vote Sideshow Bob.

 

[ShironRedshift]

Excellent news.

All felons, including those currently serving time in prison, should be permitted to vote.

Fully agree with this.

 

[D'ultimate]

I'd love to see a source for the bolded.

Perhaps there's no real proof but not being able to vote on policies that may be beneficial to you as a person such as local job creation and drug sentencing laws sure as hell ain't helping the recidivism rates.

 

[ebullientprism]

Nothing wrong with the idea in principle. But the timing of this is just shameful political maneuvering.

Right thing done for wrong reasons.

 

[Tobor]

I'm happy to have voted for McAuliffe. He's doing good work.

 

[hiryu64]

Nothing wrong with the idea in principle. But the timing of this is just shameful political maneuvering.

Right thing done for wrong reasons.

I have to ask why you believe this. I don't live in VA anymore, so I might be missing some context.

EDIT: Ohhh, I think I get where you're coming from. I won't deny that it's a possibility that he's trying to get more Dem voters out there, and I can't know for certain whether that was a factor in his decision. But as you said, at worst it's right thing for the wrong reasons. I said as much when Republican governor Nathan Deal vetoed HB757 (""""""""religious freedom""""""""" bill) in GA. Then again, I did hear that Deal was against such measures even before major corporations started threatening the state with boycotts and withdrawals, so who's to say whether his motives were pure there. In either case, both decisions ended up being good from my own moral standpoint, so I'm happy with them both.

 

[darkside31337]

Nothing wrong with the idea in principle. But the timing of this is just shameful political maneuvering.

Right thing done for wrong reasons.

Really when would a good time be to do this? Should citizens have to wait a year to have their voting rights restored because its an inconvenient time for a party for citizens to actually be able to vote?

That just seems silly.

Its sad that Florida is going to definitely be the last state to ever allow felons to vote. If you've done your time there is no justification to not being able to vote.

 

[onipex]

Maryland's (republican) governor wanted to do the same thing, but the legislature overturned his veto to give voting rights back to those still on parole or probation. I think I prefer the VA way.

No, Maryland's Republican governor tried to take away voting rights with a veto and that's what got over turned by the legislature. Source

 

[Redd]

Wow. Go Terry. Feeling good about voting that dude in.

Same here. Glad he's my Governor.

 

[wrowa]

All I'm taking away from this is that people in prison apparently aren't allowed to vote in the US. That strikes me as really wrong.

 

[ivysaur12]

But also who'd have thought that McAuliffe would've turned out to be a great governor?

 

[Wilsongt]

Nothing wrong with the idea in principle. But the timing of this is just shameful political maneuvering.

Right thing done for wrong reasons.

Why? A primary is coming up and if people want to register, they need to do so. They should also need tl register for the general.

Why wait?

 

[smokeandmirrors]

"...who have completed the terms of their sentence and their parole or probation..." -- Seems fair.

Yep. They did their time. Only fair.

 

[ProfessorLobo]

All I'm taking away from this is that people in prison apparently aren't allowed to vote in the US. That strikes me as really wrong.

Your take away is correct and it strikes you correctly.

 

[Guevara]

I don't have a problem with felons losing the right to vote...

...but I also don't have a problem with regaining the right, after serving their sentence. So, good I guess.

 

[Voysa Reezun]

I remember hating Terry McAuliffe in 2008.

I forgive you for everything, Governor.

IMO, if you pay taxes in this country and are a legal citizen, you should have a right to vote. I only exempt children from that catch-all because their parents might have undue influence on their vote, but otherwise, everyone should get the franchise (since everyone pays taxes of some sort).

 

[Gattsu25]

I don't have a problem with felons losing the right to vote...

Care to explain why you think it's not a terrible idea?

 

[grumble]

Then they aren't rights.

There is no such thing as a right, simply privileges that a society chooses to confer on its citizens.

 

[DieH@rd]

Wait what? They were not allowed to vote?

WHAT

US is fucking strange.

 

[cameron]

All felons, including those currently serving time in prison, should be permitted to vote.

Agreed. Was curious about which countries do it right. From the wiki on felony disenfranchisement:

Most democracies give convicted criminals the same voting rights as other citizens.

...

Many countries allow inmates to vote. Examples include Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Sweden, and Zimbabwe.​

I agree as well but our courts have ruled that felons lose certain rights. 2nd amendment being one of them

More reason for gun ownership to be a government granted privilege. So the loss of that privilege doesn't have a domino effect to justify the loss of an actual fundamental right.

I think you overstate the rate at which people in general are convicted of felonies.

Why does the frequency of conviction matter? Virginia alone just reinstated the voting rights to 200,000 citizens. Is that figure not significant?

 

[Linkyn]

Good. Not letting people who've completed their sentence vote is a strong admission of failure for the criminal justice system. If you believe that your prisons are anything more than punitive measures, if you believe that convicted felons can atone for their crimes and be productive members of society after their release, than they must be given back all the same rights they had before their conviction. If you don't think they deserve full recognition as citizens, you might as well keep them in prison.

 

[BlastProcessing]

Nothing wrong with the idea in principle. But the timing of this is just shameful political maneuvering.

Right thing done for wrong reasons.

Taking into consideration the stated reasons for enacting the disenfranchisement in the first place...

In researching the provisions, advisers to the governor turned up a 1906 report quoting Carter Glass, a Virginia state senator (and later, a member of Congress who was an author of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act that regulated banks) as saying they would “eliminate the darkey as a political factor in this State in less than five years, so that in no single county of the Commonwealth will there be the least concern felt for the complete supremacy of the white race in the affairs of government.”

I think we can say that everyday this shit remains is an injustice.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Nothing wrong with the idea in principle. But the timing of this is just shameful political maneuvering.

Right thing done for wrong reasons.

Who cares? I mean sure, it'd be nice if they were doing it for purely altruistic reasons, but I think I'd sooner see a law made for votes that improves the lives of hundreds of thousands of people rather than having nothing.

 

[Gattsu25]

Taking into consideration the stated reasons for enacting the disenfranchisement in the first place...



I think we can say that everyday this shit remains is an injustice.

Source on that quote: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/u...inia-voting-rights-convicted-felons.html?_r=0

Wow...just...wow

They were really overt back then.

Edit: better source

 

[GaimeGuy]

Nothing wrong with the idea in principle. But the timing of this is just shameful political maneuvering.

Right thing done for wrong reasons.

We have congressional elections every two years, you know. And that's just as far as federal politics go.

There's always elections going on when you add in the local and state politics

 

[SolarPowered]

Excellent job, Governor.

 

[Sax1031]

now give them back their 2nd amendment. they served their debt to society.

 

[Odrion]

Where is that gif of the guy in the boat, smiling and nodding? That sums up my feelings.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

Nothing wrong with the idea in principle. But the timing of this is just shameful political maneuvering.

Right thing done for wrong reasons.

It's never "shameful" to right a profound wrong. If this is going to cause all of these people to turn around and vote against Republicans, maybe the GOP should use that as a moment to look in the mirror and find out why this group of people should be so against them....but instead they'll just blame Obama.

 

[Tobor]

Does anyone actually think that the general election will be close enough in VA that a subset of 200K former felons(not all of them will register) will actually be the difference? Because that's laughable.

VA will be blue in November, and this won't be why.

 

[LizardKing]

now give them back their 2nd amendment. they served their debt to society.

I agree. Then take it away again by amending the constitution to deny people who use guns illegally the right to own guns. That at least should have popular opinion and be able to pass. Rights should be treated as rights.

 

[Daingurse]

All felons, including those currently serving time in prison, should be permitted to vote.

Yep. Stripping them of their right to vote is complete bullshit.

 

[uncelestial]

Frankly, nothing in the world should take away a person's voting rights. Even the mentally ill and incarcerated should have a say in how they are treated.

now give them back their 2nd amendment. they served their debt to society.