Changing our World: Catholic Social Teaching and Voting Rights
by Dr. Bernard Evans, professor at St John's University and member of JRLC's Executive Board. Cross-posted with courtesy of the St Cloud Visitor.
Felons voting! Really. Is that so bad? Recent news carried a number of stories about voting by felons. Politicians stepped before cameras to assure their constituents – or would-be constituents – that they will be tough on felons. Persons convicted of a felony, it seems, are easy targets for cheap political points especially when the politicians involved ignore all nuances that come with the word, “felon.”
Persons convicted of a felony may be serving time in prison or jail; they may have served their time and are now on parole; they may be on probation. They also may be “off paper,” meaning all their obligations have been satisfied. A total of 5.3 million Americans are denied the right to vote because of laws that prohibit voting by people with a felony conviction. About 4 million of these live, work, pay taxes and raise families in our communities.
Whether such persons are allowed to vote depends upon where they live. Thirty-five states, including Minnesota, deny the right to vote to persons convicted of a felony as long as they remain on paper – that is, incarcerated or on parole or on probation. Other states restore this right as soon as the person leaves prison or jail. Two states (Maine and Vermont) allow inmates to vote. Two others (Kentucky and Virginia) permanently disenfranchise anyone convicted of a felony.
Catholic social teaching speaks of the right to participation – that is, the right to be involved in decision-making processes that affect our lives. The Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s spoke of citizens’ right and duty to vote freely in the interest of advancing the common good. What the U.S. Catholic Bishops said twenty years later about participation in the economy can be applied as well to voting. “Basic justice demands the establishment of minimum levels of participation in the life of the human community for all persons. The ultimate injustice is for a person or group to be treated actively or abandoned passively as if they were nonmembers of the human race. To treat people this way is effectively to say they simply do not count as human beings” (Economic Justice for All, 77). To deny people their right to vote is another way of saying they simply do not matter. This is wrong for the persons directly affected by such laws; it is wrong for the larger community as well.
Voting is the basis of American democracy and the health of our democracy requires the broadest possible voter participation. Restoring the vote to persons convicted of a felony encourages their participation in civic life, encourages them to re-establish healthy ties to the community, encourages them to be responsible citizens.
In 2007 the Minnesota Catholic Bishops joined other religious leaders in the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) in issuing a statement on voting rights for persons convicted of a felony. The statement urged the Department of Corrections and the Minnesota Secretary of State to do a better job of informing felons that they have the right to vote after they are “off paper.” It called for better communication between the justice department and election officials so that ex-felons are not red flagged at the polls even after they have satisfied their obligations. It also encouraged the State of Minnesota to extend the right to vote to felons as soon as they are released to the community and not wait until they are off probation or parole.
All of us in the Catholic community would do well to follow the lead of our bishops on this issue. At the very least we might allow ourselves to become better informed about this topic. With a little more information we might discourage others from targeting for political gain persons who have made mistakes, paid their price and now seek reintegration into our communities.
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