RUTLAND, Vt. – The prison inmates had to think for a moment when Missy Shea of the Vermont Secretary of State’s office asked them to name the only crime that would prevent an incarcerated person from voting in the state.
“Murder,” answered one of the men gathered in the library of the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility. Others guessed treason or domestic assault.
“You’re all going to have really good answers, but you’re not going to get it,” Shea said during a voter registration session at the jail earlier this month. “Election fraud.”
No one in Vermont can remember the last time anyone was convicted of election fraud, making it and Maine the only two states that allow all inmates to vote. Officials in both states say interest in voting in the presidential election is up among prisoners as Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain campaign for the White House.
“We do have a fair number of prisoners who are doing it,” said Jeffrey Merrill, warden at the maximum-security Maine State Prison in Warren.
It’s about time! Yeah Maine and Vermont.
When you think about it, inmates are the frequently the only ones with all the facts of their guilt or innocence. Judges and juries are relying on hearsay. Since a lawyer manufactured lie is usually the best defense, Judges and juries are always in doubt, unless they are fools or the circumstantial evidence is absolute.
Inmates are in the know about police brutality, disproportionate punishment, fabricated convictions, and the protection of police butality by government. They should be allowed to vote.
How many times have you heard police brutality mentioned by politicians this year? Answer: none. Since the police are allowed to vote and their victims are not, police brutality and other crimes of the state against the incarcerated will not only continue, but expand.
All states must give inmates the right to vote! We give people with IQ’s under 100 the right to vote. Why not give the victims of our government the right to vote?