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flargenhargen t1_itbpqg7 wrote

> not letting people with a record vote is bonkers to say the least.

The reason is exactly what you'd expect. Trying to keep people who aren't likely to vote for you, from voting at all.

https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/what-can-we-learn-from-the-history-of-felony-disenfranchisement/

>When Black men were granted the right to vote in 1870, Southern states started to adopt felony disenfranchisement laws, not long before they adopted poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses, all tools designed to prevent Black voters from accessing the ballot.

The good news is that as described in that link, it's starting to trend away from that, and people are getting access to vote again in more progressive states, and even some that aren't so much.

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