Last Friday, state auditors revealed 57 felons voted illegally in Madison during the November 2004 election. Initially, one might be disturbed by the faults in Wisconsin's voter-registration system that allowed such an easily preventable mistake to be made. However, upon further consideration, it becomes obvious that hiring a few more city clerks cannot solve the state's actual problem — a broad denial of minority rights.
In one of Wisconsin's most glaring injustices, felons who have yet to complete their sentences are refused the right to vote. While no federal legislation on the issue exists, most states enforce laws barring felons from voting, some extending prohibition beyond completion of a sentence.
According to www.righttovote.org approximately 4.7 million Americans are ineligible to vote because they have committed felonies. This means that one in every 43 American adults is not living in a democracy. Further, 1.8 million of those disenfranchised are African-American. Unfortunately, the theft of voting rights is very disproportional.
Perhaps the scariest aspect of felons' denied rights in the United States is the country's tendency to govern by popular trend. Despite the fact that the U.S. government was designed with checks and balances to protect minority rights, it seems that taking these rights has proven easy in the case of felons.
Because most people are not bothered if those convicted of felonies are kept from voting, the issue is simply never addressed. Essentially, Americans can be robbed of their democratic rights by a whimsical majority. The realization of Alexis de Tocqeville's grave prediction could not be more perfectly illustrated.
Although the necessity to punish felons is widely agreed upon, it is tragically ironic that this punishment often comprises revocation of the ability to help decide what constitutes a felony. To deny voting rights to anyone is the antitheses of democracy, but to use a denial of voting rights as punishment seems downright cruel.
Regardless of society's views, felons are still American citizens. Whether someone might be considered by most to be a 'bad person' is irrelevant with regards to voting rights. Democracies cannot simply revoke the rights of anyone whom the majority does not care for. By the rationale used to keep felons from voting, it seems that any violation of the law could warrant a loss of rights, but people would likely be upset if jaywalking or a traffic infraction meant they wouldn't be able to select their public officials in the next election.
The United States of America seems to believe itself to be the standard of pure democracy, and it does not hesitate to condescendingly make this known. Incredibly, a democracy that could hardly be called inclusive places itself at the forefront of an effort to democratize the world. How can a country justify its forceful promotion of "democracy" on the global stage when the rights of its own minority are non-existent?
It is the obligation of a true democracy to guarantee the right of participation to all citizens, especially those whose fates could be determined by the outcome of a vote. As soon as any one citizen's rights are confiscated, the democracy suffers. Many Americans consider their country to be a bastion of liberty and equality. In order to truly live up to its reputation, the United States must immediately take drastic action to ensure that all of its citizens have equal rights under the law.
As for Wisconsin, state officials will have to address problems far greater than the voting of 57 felons before they begin to touch the real issue.
Rob Rossmeissl ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science.
