An op-ed by Stu

[Stu Pidasole]

Though there will be no links to anything current, it doesn't take a scientist to know things are not good here in America.

These are a few of my thoughts:

"My thoughts................it shouldn't be liberal or conservative, left or right, it should be what "YOU" think is right. the current 2 party system defeats that. In some states how you are registered, Republican or Democrat makes you vote those lines. I do not think the founders of this country meant it to go that direction. But sadly, the American voters CONTINUE to re-elect the same career politicians. Another thing the founders never planned on. You were supposed to serve and go back to where you came from, your JOB. Being a politician shouldn't be a job or career."

Now that said, I've never voted, I'm a convicted "tax paying" felon / citizen. That was 30 years ago, did the crime, did the time. Shouldn't there be a time when one can resume to the same standards that other tax payers enjoy?

After 30 years, do I not fall into "taxation without representation", it's okay to continue to collect revenue from me yet not give me a say? Yet allow illegal non citizens to vote and have a say?

I know many like me, who feel the same, yet the hard right and the hard left, continue to collect our tax dollars and refuse to give us an "honest" path to not a right being restored, but a "privilege".

Any one who knows the "Constitution" as well as I do, knows that voting isn't a right. Nothing in the "Bill of Rights" address voting. There are a few amendments, I think 3 I can recall that address "suffrage" issues, but no direct right.

The only right I lost was the second amendment.


REMEMBER, voting is NOT a right.


Your thoughts.................

~SP

 

[reggie jax]

I'd be much more comfortable letting felons vote than I would be letting them own guns. I honestly can't come up with a decent argument for not letting them vote.

 

[silberfuchs]

I fully agree with you, Mr. Stuart. The real problem behind this, what's causing the two-party system to be broken, is the fact that politicians feel the need to fight for their team and not for what is in the peoples' best interest. You know, because doing their job right is hard, and it's just easier to follow the group. That, and I'm pretty sure half of them fail at reading comprehension and could not manage to understand the constitution.

If a few of these nuts could be cracked and set back on track to work for the people, things wouldn't be as they currently are.

 

[Frood]

I completely agree with all of that, except

"In some states how you are registered, Republican or Democrat makes you vote those lines

You can vote on a ballot for whomever you please. Being registered as a Dem or Rep in some states just means that you get to vote in their primary elections for who they decide to put on the ballot as their candidate.

 

[Stu Pidasole]

I completely agree with all of that, except
You can vote on a ballot for whomever you please. Being registered as a Dem or Rep in some states just means that you get to vote in their primary elections for who they decide to put on the ballot as their candidate.

I'm pretty sure here in Florida, you can vote how you wish in a primary only, but in major elections you have to vote registered party lines.

Keeping in mind that voting is controlled by the state you live in, not the federal government, so the voting rules change from state to state.

There are 3 or 4 states that do allow felons to vote and I think 1 or 2 may allow those doing time to vote as well. I'm not exactly sure on that last part.

Edit, I was right:

Voting is a matter of state law. Even federal elections are governed by the laws in force in each of the individual states. Each state determines under what circumstances a convicted felon can or cannot vote. These laws vary rather significantly from one state to another.

No Restrictions
Two states impose no restrictions whatsoever on voting by convicted felons. Maine and Vermont permit felons to vote, even if they are imprisoned. In other words, even upon a felony conviction, the voting rights of residents of these two New England states remain in full force.


Released From Incarceration
The District of Columbia and 11 states permit felons to vote once they are released from a term of incarceration. Additionally, felons on probation can vote in these jurisdictions. The states that permit felons to vote under these circumstances are:

Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Massachusetts
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island

source:
http://www.ehow.com/list_6500867_states-allow-convicted-felons-vote_.html

 

[Frood]

I'm pretty sure here in Florida, you can vote how you wish in a primary only, but in major elections you have to vote registered party lines.

It's the other way around. The government cannot tell you how to vote. The demoncrats can refuse to let anyone who's not a democrat vote in their primary election. However, once youre in the ballot booth, everyone has the same ballot (or mail in or however you vote). It would both be impossible and illegal for the government to tell you who you can and cannot vote for.

I wasn't talking at all about convicts.

 

[Stu Pidasole]

You don't need to register for any party to vote in the general election in any state, whether it's a presidential election year or not. As for voting in primary elections, different states have different rules. Some states have open primaries, where anyone can vote for a given party primary candidate. Other states have closed primaries, so that if you're a Democrat you can't vote for the Republican primary candidate, and if you're not registered to a party you can't vote in the primary elections at all. The argument in favor of a closed primary is that the party faithful should properly be the ones to choose who is the standard-bearer for the party. In some open-primary states, if you vote in the primary elections and choose the same party's primary ballot for a certain number of consecutive years, you will automatically be enrolled for that party

 

[Frood]

I'm pretty sure here in Florida, you can vote how you wish in a primary only, but in major elections you have to vote registered party lines.

Which completely contradicts this.

 

[Stu Pidasole]

Which completely contradicts this.

Okay agreed, but it doesn't change the argument on the restrictions.