House Dem agrees with Holder: Let some felons vote

Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) on Monday called on her home state to allow non-violent felons to vote again once they’ve done serving out their sentence.

“What is happening in Florida is unjust,” she told reporters, according to 10 News in Tampa Bay. “It’s unfair and it’s not a productive policy.”

{mosads}10 News reported that 20 percent of Florida’s black population can’t vote because of the state’s restrictions on voting by convicted felons. “It is simply harkening back to a post-Civil War era of racial discrimination,” Castor said.

Scott’s office put out a statement saying Florida’s Constitution has a process for restoring voting rights to criminals who are “truly remorseful for how they have wrecked families and want to earn back their right to vote.”

State policies on voting rights were highlighted last week by Attorney General Eric Holder, who called on states to eliminate laws that restrict voting rights for criminals who have served out their sentences. Holder called these “felony disenfranchisement” laws that prevent 5.8 million people in 11 states from voting.

“These restrictions are not only unnecessary and unjust, they’re also counter-productive,” he said. “These laws increase the likelihood that they will commit future crimes; they undermine the re-entry process.”

Holder also said these laws affect blacks more than others — he said one in 13 blacks can’t vote because of past convictions.