New Poll Shows Most Americans Oppose Bernie Sanders’ Plan to Let Felons Vote From Prison

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CLEAR LAKE, IA - AUGUST 14: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding August 14, 2015 in Clear Lake, Iowa. The Wing Ding is held at the historic Surf Ballroom, where Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens played their final concert, and featured Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Martin OÕMalley and Lincoln Chaffee. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The overwhelming majority of Americans–about 75 percent–oppose Democratic senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders‘ plan to allow prisoners to vote, according to a new poll from Business Insider. Only 15 percent agree with Sanders.

Sen. Sanders proposed this during his CNN town hall last week. When pushing the idea that felons should be given voting rights, the self-described socialist was asked if a criminal like the Boston Marathon bomber or even murderers and rapists should be given such civic privileges.

Sanders said even “terrible people” should be given the right to vote.

Business Insider reports:

Based on our poll, approximately 35% of voters are supportive of enfranchising currently incarcerated people in some capacity, but most of these people aren’t willing to go as far as Sanders.

Beyond those that believe current prisoners should vote, roughly 30% said currently incarcerated people should lose their right to vote, but be re-enfranchised when they’re released. 24% of respondent said those convicted of violent felonies should permanently lose voting rights.

And approximately 10% of respondents said they “don’t know” how they feel about this issue.

“The poll also found a stark divide in views on this issue along party lines: Nearly half of likely Democratic primary voters (47%) support enfranchising prisoners in some capacity compared to about 21% of likely Republican primary voters,” Business Insider notes.

When Sanders floated this notion, of course, the far-left of his party were eager to agree.

“To avoid looking completely + utterly out of touch w/ the reality our prison system: Instead of asking, ‘Should the Boston Bomber have the right to vote?’ Try, ‘Should a nonviolent person stopped w/ a dime bag LOSE the right to vote?’ Bc that question reflects WAY more people,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

“If you are a citizen, you have the right to vote. And that is a right we must protect because we know the history of this country, we know that women didn’t have the right to vote,” Sanders recently said at a rally in Houston, Texas. “We know that African-Americans didn’t have the right to vote.”

Comparing people convicted of serious crimes to black Americans who’ve been disenfranchised from the electoral system in the past should offend every one of any political stripe.

No one with any common sense believes those still behind bars should be given the right to vote. According to this most recent poll, that includes about 75 percent of Americans.

That should at least give Bernie Sanders something to think about if he’s actually serious about running for president.

is a professional writer and editor with over 15 years of experience in conservative media and Republican politics. He... More about John Hanson

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