Voter Disenfranchisement
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Abstract
This paper examines the policy of voter disenfranchisement and how it
disproportionately affects minorities. Voter disenfranchisement is the denial of voting
rights to the criminally convicted. The research indicates African Americans are
significantly disproportionally affected by this policy when compared to white Americans.
Currently, the United States Supreme Court has allowed states to incorporate their own
policy for disenfranchising felons residing in their state. The recommendation of this
paper is to create a uniform policy for voter disenfranchisement among the fifty states,
which would allow for any eligible voter living in the community to vote. The policy
would only deny voting to those that are incarcerated. This recommendation is based on
the belief that voting is a fundamental right and that the current policy disproportionately
affects minorities. Also, implementation of this policy would be cost effective for states
because tracking disenfranchised community members would no longer be needed.
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