CITIZEN ADVOCACY CENTER

Voter Disenfranchisement

Lesson Plan and Activity

 

Grade Level: 9, 10, 11, 12

 

Subjects:

Social Studies: Government

Language Arts: Reading, Writing

Duration: 1-2 class session(s) 

Description: This lesson plan stimulates classroom discussion on the issue of voter disenfranchisement. The purpose of this exercise is to raise awareness of voter disenfranchisement. 

 

ISBE Standards:

 

1. Social Science

  • 14A: Understand and explain basic principles of the United States government.
  • 14C: Understand election processes and responsibilities of citizens.

2. Language Arts

·        1A:  Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections;

·        3A:  Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization and structure;

·        3B:  Compose well-organized and coherent writing for specific purposes and audiences;

·        4A:  Listen effectively in formal and informal situations; and

·        4B:  Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

Objectives:

  • Understand the issue of felony voter disenfranchisement.
  • Develop and debate arguments for and against felony voter disenfranchisement. 
  • Analyze the issue of military disenfranchisement.

Materials:

·        Pen/pencil

·        Notebook paper

·        Copies of the Fifteenth Amendment, Section Two of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Article III of the Constitution of the State of Illinois

·        Optional:  Address/contact information for state and federal representatives

Instruction and Activity:

•Background information/discussion:

First, ask the class what the right to vote means.  Why are people allowed to vote?  Why were some people historically not allowed to vote?  What does it mean to vote?

For lecture: The right to vote is one of the most important devices citizens possess in order to participate in our nation’s democracy, and to keep our government officials accountable to the public.  Historically, citizens have been denied the right to vote because of their race, gender, class, or age.  The Fifteenth Amendment, passed after the Civil War, prohibited race, color, and slave status from preventing citizens from voting; the Nineteenth Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote; the Twenty-Fourth Amendment prohibited poll taxes, which would typically prevent members of the lower socio-economic classes, especially poor African-Americans from voting; and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the age of voting from 21 to 18 in response to cries from Viet Nam veterans that they were old enough to fight, therefore, they were old enough to vote.    

Elections are controlled by each state individually.  Every state has the power to devise its own election laws with guidance from federal law on federal election issues.  Therefore, different states may have different laws regarding the right to vote.  One election law issue that varies from state to state is felon disenfranchisement.

Typically, felons lose the right to vote while in jail.  The theory is that as a felon, the person broke the rules of society and therefore should not be awarded the benefit of voting.  Once the felon is released or paroled from jail, however, the states vary on allowing those convicted of a crime to vote.  Some states forever prohibit anyone ever convicted of a felony from voting.  Although this denial of the right to vote may appear to be a fair punishment for someone who broke the rules of society, our nation’s system of justice is based on the principle of rehabilitation by allowing those who have served their time in prison to re-enter and re-join society.  Additionally, someone who may have committed a minor felony in his or her childhood or early adulthood would be forever barred from voting.  In the United States, 3.9 million people, or one in 50 adults, have permanently lost their right to vote as a result of a felony conviction.

In other states, gubernatorial action or a presidential pardon is needed before convicted felons can vote.  In Illinois, individuals who are incarcerated are denied the right to vote.  However, the right to vote is automatically regained once the person is lawfully released from incarceration.  In order to vote, the released felon simply needs to register.  The same rules apply for Illinois residents even if they were convicted and/or incarcerated in another state.

Activity: Felon Disenfranchisement Debate

Pass out copies of the Fifteenth Amendment, Section Two of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Article III of the Constitution of the State of Illinois to the students.  Have them read these passages and once again discuss what it means to have the right to vote, who is allowed to vote, and who is not allowed to vote.

Now have the students break off into two groups for a voter disenfranchisement debate.  One group will be in favor of felon voter disenfranchisement, while the other group will be in favor of felon voter re-enfranchisement.  Allow the groups substantial time to develop their arguments.  Once the groups are ready, the debate can begin.

After the debate is completed, introduce these facts to the class:

•Felony disenfranchisement laws currently deny the right to vote to 13% of African-American males.

•Nationwide, one in every 20 black males over the age of 18 is in prison.

•Most drug offenders are white: five times as many whites use drugs as blacks.  But in Illinois, blacks are sent to state prison on drug charges at 13 times the rate of white men.

•In Illinois, 90% of all drug offenders in prison are black.

•In Illinois, black men are 57 times more likely to be sent to prison on a drug charge than white men.

 

Ask the class if these new facts change any of their arguments either for or against felon voter disenfranchisement.  Based on these facts, does felony disenfranchisement violate the 15th Amendment or the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

Military Voter Disenfranchisement

Another issue particularly pertinent during this time of war and contested elections is the issue of military voting.  Approximately six million U.S. voters are overseas, most of them in the military, or relatives of someone serving in the military.  Typically, military personnel stationed overseas are allowed to vote by absentee ballot.  However, there are certain deadlines on the receipt of absentee ballots that prevent many absentee ballots sent by the military from being counted.  Problems with military voting came forward during the 2000 presidential election, when many military ballots in Florida were excluded from the ballot count because the ballots were lost, damaged, or arrived after the deadline.  30% of military ballots nationwide were not received by their required deadline. 

In Illinois, all ballots, including military ballots, must be received by Election Day to be counted.  Some claim that military mail is too slow, and prevents the ballots from arriving to the soldiers with enough time for the ballots to be sent back to the states by the deadline.  However, the Pentagon claims that the military mail system is efficient enough to allow the ballots to be received back in the states by election deadlines.

There is concern that for the 2004 election, thousands of military ballots will not be counted.  A proposal for a 14-day emergency extension for military ballots has been made in order to provide an additional two weeks for military ballots to arrive at their destination and be counted with the other ballots.

 

Ask the class to write responses to the following questions:

1) Is the current military voting system effective?  What are some pros and cons with the current system?

2) Should new laws be enacted to change the military voting system?  Why or why not?

3) What types of changes should be made to the current military voting system?

 

The individual responses should then be shared and debated with the entire class.

Optional Follow-Up Activity:

If interested, students could write letters to their state and federal officials on the issues of felon disenfranchisement, military disenfranchisement, or the proposed 14-day military voting exception.

Sources:

Erica Werner, “Official here warns military ballots could go uncounted”, Chi. Sun-Times, Aug. 5, 2004, at 20.

Fox News, “Military Voting System Plagues by Woes”, Apr. 8, 2004.  Available at: http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,116410,00.html

Fox News, “Pentagon Cancels Internet Voting System”, Feb. 6, 2004.  Available at: http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,110625,00.html

 

Gale Holland, “Military Voting Goes Online: Overseas electorate hopes to regain voting rights on the Internet”, available at http://www.diggov.org/news/stories/2002/0402/0402military_holland.jsp

 

Human Rights Watch, “United States: Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs”, May 2000.  Available at http://hrw.org/reports/2000/usa/

 

Ill. Const. art. III.

 

NAACP, “Reenfranchisement”, available at: http://www.naacp.org/work/voter/reenfranchisement.shtml

 

Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. §1971 (1965).

 

U.S. Const. amends. XV, XIX, XXIV, XXVI.

 

U.S. Dep’t. of Justice, Civil Rights Div., “Restoring Your Right to Vote: Illinois”, Dec. 2000.  Available at: http:// www.usdoj.gov/crt/restorevote/Illnois2.pdf

 

©Copyright 2005 Citizen Advocacy Center.  All rights reserved.  No part of this lesson plan may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior, written permission of the Citizen Advocacy Center. The Citizen Advocacy Center is a 501(c)(3) non-pofit, non-partisan community based legal organization. For information about the Center, or to make a tax deductible contribution, visit www.citizenadvocacycenter.org, call 630.833.4080. The Center is located at 238 N. York Rd., Elmhurst IL 60126