Fools at the Polls

We've come a long way since our founding. Initially the only ones who could vote were males who owned land. Males, because of the Christian belief of headship; landowners because they had a vested interest in what happens to their community (especially their own property!).*

Now we hear that the homeless can register their park bench as their home address. Then, right here in Ashland county, we have incarcerated criminals being given the opportunity to cast their vote and help sway the course of a county in which they do not have true residence.

Why one who has been convicted and incarcerated has not been stripped of his/her right to vote boggles my mind. I thought that was the purpose of the justice system--to take away the rights of those who have infringed on the rights of others. In other words, fools who act foolishly and fall under judgment for it should not be able to tell the law abiding how their lives should be lived.


*I know someone out there will make a big deal over the fact that it was white males and not black males who initially had the right to vote. I understand that this was wrong. I'm not arguing race issues here.