Voting Rights

IOWA'S GOOD EXAMPLE

GOV. TOM VILSACK finally has pushed Iowa out of the group of states
that permanently bar felons from voting. The remaining four states -
Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Virginia - should follow Iowa's
sensible example.

The disfranchisement of felons is a hot topic partly because the
policy has a discriminatory effect on African-Americans who are
represented disproportionately in the prison population. Illinois is
one of 14 states where felons can vote as soon as they are out of
prison. In Missouri, felons can vote only after they have served
their prison terms, parole and probation. Seventeen other states have
similar laws.

Mr. Vilsack, a Democrat, didn't wait for the Iowa legislature to act,
but used his clemency powers to restore voting rights. Fittingly, his
order takes effect on Independence Day. As a result of that executive
order, about 50,000 felons will become eligible to vote. Having the
right to vote gives felons a second chance to become law-abiding,
productive citizens, the governor said.

Three-strikes laws in many states have contributed heavily to the
high rate of incarceration and prison overcrowding. Nationally, the
crime rate is at historic lows, according to federal officials, but
the incarceration rate is at a historic high. Because
African-American men are disproportionately represented in the prison
population, they also are overrepresented among the disenfranchised.

The Sentencing Project, a Chicago-based social justice advocacy
group, estimates that more than 2 million white Americans, including
Hispanics and non-Hispanics, have been disenfranchised compared to
about 1.4 million African-American men. But the latter number
represents 13 percent of the black male population; that's seven
times the national average, the group says. More than 676,000 female
felons cannot vote.

Prisons aren't run solely to punish the wicked. Ostensibly at least,
they rehabilitate people. After felons have been rehabilitated and
paid their debts to society, they should have the opportunity to
rejoin it, with all its inherent privileges and responsibilities. In
a democracy, the right to vote heads that list.