25 signatures reached
To: State and Federal Legislators
Stay Woke: Restoration of Voting Rights
Automatically restore the voting rights of ALL citizens upon their release from prison without restrictions. Once a person has served their debt to society, they should become a full citizen regardless of whether they have the finances to pay fines, fees or restitution or connections to the governor in order to receive a pardon.
Why is this important?
When a person is released from prison, they are freed because they have served their debt to society. Why then do we continue to punish them by stripping them of the rights that are held by every citizen?
Creating financial blockades, such as requirements to pay fines, fees or restitution prior to the restoration of voting rights favors the wealthy and prevents millions of every day citizens from exercising one of our most basic rights.
Allowing Governor's to make arbitrary decisions regarding whether or not an individual should regain their right to vote creates political incentives for some to regain their rights while other's do not.
The 15th amendment of the Constitution prohibits the right to vote from being denied based on an individual's "previous condition of servitude." Marriam-Webster's dictionary defines servitude as, "a condition in which one lacks liberty... to determine one's course of action or way of life." Incarceration falls under this definition and should therefore not be used to justify taking away one's right to vote.