A BILL in the Florida state senate calling for the immediate restoration of voting rights to convicted felons once they serve their time deserves support. Society shouldn't withhold voting privileges from those who have paid their debt to society and have been released from prison.
Florida, Virginia, and Kentucky are the only states that revoke felons' voting privileges. Ohio law says the voting rights of convicted felons must be returned if they are no longer incarcerated. The Florida legislature should drop its constitutional ban and grant the privilege to felons finished with their prison terms, and the other two states should follow suit.
Ironically, progress on the Florida bill may be slow because its sponsor is himself a convicted felon.
State Sen. Gary Siplin, a two-term Orlando Democrat, was convicted in August on grand theft charges. He had employees work on state time on his re-election campaign in 2004. He was given three years probation and 300 hours community service, but the sentence has been postponed pending appeal.
The conviction disqualified him from voting, even though he remains in Florida's voter database. Meanwhile, Siplin is still in office because a 1918 Supreme Court ruling prevents elected officials from being disqualified from public office until their criminal case is decided on appeal.
The senator also did his cause no good when he was jailed briefly in November for going to Tallahassee without telling his probation officer. He won't make that mistake again, not as long as state authorities are watching.One would expect Siplin to know better than to let state workers do campaign work on state time, and to report his whereabouts since his conviction.
Nevertheless, Florida legislators shouldn't overlook the larger principle. Americans who vote are responsible citizens, and voting should be an essential part of the rehabilitation process for those who have had trouble with the law.
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