As Maine goes, so should the nation

Even with Florida's new law re-enfranchising 1.5 million felons who have completed their sentence, including parole and probation, over 4 million ex-cons don't have the right to vote in America. That's on top of a million or more still serving their sentence in the most incarceration crazy nation on Earth. But two states, Maine and Vermont, allow every eligible adult to vote, including Big House residents. Many argue the incarcerated have forfeited their right to vote as just punishment for their anti-social behavior. Yet, if the goal of justice is to both protect the public and rehabilitate the incarcerated for eventual return to society, convict voting serves both purposes. It has no adverse effect on public safety and may have a positive effect on rehabilitation by encouraging felons to re-engage with the society from which they've been excluded.

How is convict voting working in Maine and Vermont? FBI violent crime stats place Vermont 49th and Maine dead last in violent crime per hundred thousand residents with an average of 141. Alaska and New Mexico top the fifty in violent crime with an average of 754 per hundred thousand. The reasons must be many but convict voting certainly doesn't hurt.

A famous US political phrase 'As Maine goes so goes the nation' was popular at one time, reflecting Maine's reputation as a bell-weather state for predicting presidential elections. When it comes to convict voting, as well as the 4 million on parole, probation and simply former felons, we should update that to 'As Maine and Vermont go on convict voting...so should the nation'.