During a rally in Fort Worth, Texas, presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., doubled down on his proposal to give incarcerated felons, including terrorists and those who commit sexual assault, the right to vote.
“If you commit a terrible crime, you’re going to pay the price,” Sanders told his supporters. “But that does not mean that your right to participate in our democracy is taken away from you.”
He said taking away voting rights from felons in jail is a “slippery slope” that could lead to other groups of people’s right to vote to be taken away.
“Once you begin taking away somebody’s right to vote, you’re moving down a slippery slope. ‘You committed a crime, you can’t vote. You’re poor, you can’t vote,'” Sanders said.
[Related: Bernie Sanders says Boston bomber should be able to vote from prison]
At a rally in Texas, @SenSanders says convicted felons should “pay the price” for their crimes
“But,” Sanders said. “That does not mean that your right to participate in our democracy should be taken away from you.”
He called it a “slippery slope.” pic.twitter.com/W0lJA0D4je
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 25, 2019
The idea to give incarcerated felons voting rights was brought up during Sanders’ town hall with CNN on Monday.
“If somebody commits a serious crime, sexual assault, murder, they’re going to be punished,” Sanders said. “They may be in jail for 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, their whole lives. That’s what happens when you commit a serious crime. But I think the right to vote is inherent to our democracy. Yes, even for terrible people,” he said.
