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14th Amendment Dakota Townsend, Bryanna Bonner, Melanie Thomas, Vince Evans **Position Paper-** Felons aren’t at all the worst offenders of the community as a whole. There are plenty of people given high statures of position and power that can make a decision infecting the well being of a community that will influence our daily routine just as well as any felon, probably wrongly accused of the crime can do. Some felons may even have more knowledge about the political quarrels and debates than some of the less informed current citizens given the right to vote affecting both the political parties with many different outcomes and probabilities. Some officials and legal advisors such as Ken Wallis even took the time to come up with a lengthy and ‘’accurate’’ list of convictions restricting people of particular political persuasions from voting. With arguments going back and forth it becomes an obligation to choose the right side, it becomes your priority, or may become your option, but it doesn’t have to be your mistake in which you’ll regret later, so side with us, this position is the disposition of positivity, change, impact, difference, significance, dignity, and fairness overall for we provide you with in depth analysis of our knowledge of the topic, facts, and persuasive arguments that are logical, backed up, and perceives rectitude.

Just recently, taking place in 2007, 123,00 felons have had they’re rights to vote restored and this significant amount of people being able to choose a president can greatly change the path of Florida’s electoral votes. There are still about 56,000 cases of felons pending for rights to vote giving another large chunk of Florida’s citizens to affect the trajectory of the next president of the United States. This is not only fair to have felons who have served they’re time the gift of decision making but it’s also a civil right therefore an obligation. Good guys at heart, such as Charlie Crist proposed a change to the state’s Cabinet passing a rule to give 80 percent of felons who served their time the rights to vote or even be chosen to take part in jury or acquire a state licensed job. Thanks Charlie, you’re a good man. In 2008, James Bailey profound research on ex convicts who may be eligible to cast a ballot in the polls coming up. He exclaimed in an article brought to you by dailyadvance.com that, ‘’finding them isn’t the hard part. It’s getting them to admit that a past mistake has kept him from the ballad box. People are really, really reluctant to say, I lost my right to vote.’’ Facts state that there are 4 million released felons whose crimes prevented them the right to vote and in order to acquire these rights back, felons must negotiate certain laws that vary from state to state. According to the Brennan center for Justice at New York’s University Law School about 13 percent of black men nationwide have lost the right to vote for crimes committed in the past. With these statistics we can naturally assume that with the eligibility of these forbidden black men voters, the democratic candidate’s tally would have an increased outcome therefore increasing the chances of Obama winning. Some ex felons are just not motivated enough to go through the process of acquiring there rights back. With the right push, positive attitude, and correct motivation, we can assure the rights of convicts all over the world! (work cited) www.daily advance.com/news/state/push-to-register-felons-to-vote-could-aid-obama-167253.html www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081004/NEWS01/810040469/100

**Rebuttal-** We believe that once someone has served his or her debt to society all of their privileges should be returned i.e. voting rights. Being placed in jail/prison is their punishment for being a rebellion against the law. As soon as his or her sentence is over their privileges are returned. However others may think that this thought is a bad idea.

And here are some examples-

-Felons don't deserve to determine who should be President because they broke the law when they were under another President that they were able to vote for before they committed the crime.

People may say that they don’t think that felons will contribute to society in a positive way no matter if they vote or not because they think that since they committed crimes when a president they may have voted for was in office then, why should they vote now. However we think that everyone deserves a second chance and should be able to prove themselves and voting in any major election is a good opportunity.

- Felons aren't intelligent enough to vote for a candidate because they served time in jail for a while and couldn't keep up with politics.

Many may also say that since felons have done time in jail they have lost any connection with the outside world let alone the latest argument in politics. Therefore they cannot make a educated decision on who they should vote for. Yet when you are in jail you are taken out of a normal equation of everyday life yes. But you do have resources that keep you updated.

- Felons aren't mentally stable to vote to choose a president Some may say that since felons go through all of these mentally and or physically challenging things during their time in jail, they don’t feel as thought they will use this worsen the country instead of helping it. On the other hand there are numerous amounts of people that have mental illnesses that at unknown in the U.S and they are still allowed to vote. And giving the fact that they might not even get help for their illnesses and people who come from prison most likely will, it is unfair that their rights get taken away.

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