Posted on 11/21/2017 4:04:18 PM PST by jazusamo
WASHINGTON – Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said that all felons should have the right to vote.
“I’m for allowing people who are incarcerated to have the right to vote. Why not? They’re citizens. No matter what they’ve done, and I’m not defending any of their conduct, but all of it wasn’t bad – but all I’m saying is expanding the vote and eliminating structural barriers is critical,” Conyers said at this month’s annual Legislative & Policy Conference organized by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network (NAN) on Capitol Hill.
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that we’re in a battle for the soul of this nation. What we do is going to affect, not only us, but a lot of people around the world,” he added. “And every day in the courts and in Congress, issues are raised to determine what it means to be an American and what your rights are. Well, we want all of our rights, not some of them.”
Conyers, who made the comments before news broke of sexual harassment complaints and a settlement involving the lawmaker, said Congress should take action to eliminate “strict” voter identification laws at the state level and enact other reforms.
“Make Election Day a national holiday. We shouldn’t have to do this in between work or hope we can get off work or not get paid. We want a paid holiday for those who are working,” Conyers said. “We want to extend voting hours and increase early voting days.”
Conyers urged progressives to remain committed to “expanding the right to vote.”
“In the area of voting rights protections, the Justice Department has literally changed sides since the new administration has come in. They are throwing out some of the modest progress that was beginning to be made. And so we’ve got a lot to do. Voter suppression is now a policy objective of this administration,” he said.
“The myth that voter fraud is rampant and our elections infiltrated by undocumented immigrants continues to be used as a pretext for state legislatures across the country to make it harder for minorities to vote,” the congressman added. “The real objective is to achieve a cynical partisan political outcome. Researchers have found that the laws have a dramatic and discouraging effect on minority turnout.”
Last year, Conyers introduced the Voter Restoration Act that would “amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, by prohibiting states from disqualifying individuals convicted of criminal offenses from voting in federal and local elections, and from registering to vote, with the exception of those convicted of murder, manslaughter, or sex crimes.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) argued that Republicans are using the right to vote as a “tool of oppression.”
“Make no mistake, the right to vote is under attack. A right-wing Supreme Court guts voting rights. State legislators ram through voting suppression laws and a so-called election integrity commission wants the states to turn over voters’ birth dates and Social Security numbers – think about that. We will defend the right to vote,” Warren said at the conference.
“We will not add one penny of support and not one ounce of legitimacy to President Trump’s so-called election commission. We will not,” she added. “We will pass a new Voting Rights Advancement Act and we will demand legislation to protect every citizen’s right to vote.”
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Does this leave any doubt about who votes for Dems?
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Felons who are still in prison should absolutely forfeit the right to vote. Non-violent felons who are not re-arrested for ten years after their sentence and parole is over can petition for the return of the right to vote.
The myth that voter fraud is rampant and our elections infiltrated by undocumented immigrants...is itself a myth, or rather, a LIE from the DNC's takling points. It isn't ONLY about illegal aliens voting, it's about vote fraud due to lack of requirements for showing IDs, ringers voting for absent or dead voters (all such ringers work for the Demagogic Party), and flat-out faked ballots (such as the ones used to "elect" Al Franken the first time, or the persistent fraud reported in King Co Wash). Most states have some form of Voter ID (including Michigan, btw), and that doesn't violate the Voting Rights Act -- if anything, it strengthens it. Conyers is shameless, but even his zombie supporters should feel shame about this, as well as the fact that he's a sex predator. Thanks jazusamo.
I concur - felons still in prison should not be allowed to vote - period!
Thanks!
Because they are lawless reprobates John!
Allow We The People To Incarcerate Conyers.
Part of being in jail Is Losing Freedom.
It’s called social punishment.
Do your time, keep your nose clean and we will talk.
Democrats must be so proud to have 100% of the illiterate vote and the criminal vote who have displayed conclusively that they have no problem trampling upon anybody elses rights to the point of killing them to advance their here and now immediate and not long term interests
I have long held the belief that a sentence, however heavy or light, should wipe away guilt. Entirely.
As in, you sentence someone to fifty years, and they serve fifty years, the day they get out, that’s it. No continuous punishment. Let Jean Valjean’s “yellow passport” join the other shameful memories of history.
Same for a 90-day jail sentence. Serve it, get out, you’re clean.
Agreed
Agreed
If you want to advocate for taking away the right to vote from blacks because they black you need to find a different forum to do so.
These kind of comments reflect badly on conservatives and this forum if they remain unanswered.
Sure, allow them to have mock elections just like kids in school. Just don’t mix their votes with the legitimate totals.
Sure. Let them have their own congressional districts, and you can be the representative of one of them, and have your office in the maximum security cells, when you’re not in Washington chasing booty.
“If you want to advocate for taking away the right to vote from blacks because they black you need to find a different forum to do so.”
I was merely making a point. Blacks, through their choices for public office, including our last President have devastated our major cities, and in the case of Obama, our country. Yeah, I understand voting is a right, but with that right comes the responsibility to make choices that will lead to the betterment of our cities, states and our country. With Black voters, it isn’t about that betterment, it’s about skin color, and I submit that that conversation should be had on this forum because it’s at the heart of the racism we have here today. If you think I am wrong, please tell us all about the sad state of affairs of most of our major cities, and the role Black voters have played in that wholesale degradation.
“Serve it, get out, you’re clean.”
I really understand that line of thinking. I just wish we really had “penitentiaries”, where the felon came out “penitent”. Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in.
Rights - like liberty - are for everyone; privileges - like voting - are for those that deserve them.
Just my thoughts.
Do you think conservative blacks should lose the right to vote because the majority of blacks vote Democrat?
You think men like Allen West should not be able to vote since he is black?
Do you think all whites vote in the best interests of the nation?
Anyone, regardless of their skin color, who votes for abortion, homosexual “marriage” and adoption, gun control, and socialism, does not deserve the right to vote.
What you’re advocating is collectivism. That’s not conservative. Conservatism recognizes individual responsibility.
It seems like the nonstop mental assault of the leftwing media has taken its toll on your thinking. You are accepting the narrative that blacks must vote liberal. Instead of attacking all blacks, you need to realize that conservative values are beneficial to all who embrace them, including blacks.
And if conservatives could win over just ten percent of blacks to conservatism, it would tip the scales. And everyone—black, white, or whatever—would benefit.
But statements such as yours are not helpful to win over any blacks. It just reenforces the stereotype of conservatives being racist.
No. On the other hand, because it’s a conflict of interest, preclude all government employees from voting.
Everyone knows the un and undereducated vote Republican...</S>
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