# Could a democratic governor in Florida restore felons voting rights

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-democratic-governor-in-florida-restore-felons-voting-rights/775551>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [December 24, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-democratic-governor-in-florida-restore-felons-voting-rights/775551 "2016-12-24T19:46:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\
**Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-democratic-governor-in-florida-restore-felons-voting-rights/775551/21 "2017-01-04T23:47:48Z")

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> [@scr4](#):
>
> No, I’m just saying, if felons shouldn’t be allowed to vote _because it is an indication of “a supreme lack of judgement”_, then we can think of other groups that one could argue also lack judgment.

Let’s be a little realistic. One becomes a felon by way of the justice system and is sanctioned through a proper legal system, though I am aware it has many shortcomings. Your examples are not analogous. People can lose a lot of rights when they are convicted of a felony and voting is one of them. I personally would prefer all rights be restored once someone has served their sentence but I can’t agree a felony conviction is comparable to poverty or a lack of an education. Unless you also want to set up a judicial system that decides on whether poor or uneducated people should be allowed to vote.

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**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-democratic-governor-in-florida-restore-felons-voting-rights/775551/22 "2017-01-05T00:48:33Z")

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A person in a democracy who wants to govern should also consent to being governed. It’s considered a bad thing if politicians make themselves exempt from the laws they write, and the same problem occurs if a voter wants to enact new laws but refuses to abide by the law himself.

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