Abstract
This Comment examines whether US felon disenfranchisement laws are consistent with international legal principles and concludes that international obligations to provide equality under law and equal protection of the law would be met by allowing felon offenders the right to vote. Section II gives a history of American felon disenfranchisement laws. Section III examines felon voting rights in the United States, which are often classified as the world's most restrictive. Section IV considers the basic principles for electoral democracy under international law. Finally, Section V finds that electoral practices excluding ex-convicts from voting in the United States are unreasonably discriminatory and recommends amending the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to reform US voting law.
Recommended Citation
Nunn, Robin L.
(2005)
"Lock Them up and Throw away the Vote,"
Chicago Journal of International Law:
Vol. 5:
No.
2, Article 20.
Available at:
https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cjil/vol5/iss2/20