Vice President Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, who is a Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential election, have both been criticized for their left-wing crime policies, but have both said they support expanding voting rights for serious criminals.
As governor of Minnesota last year, Walz expanded voting rights for felons, eliminating the requirement that they complete parole or other post-release supervision to vote after they are released from prison. Harris suggested during her losing 2020 presidential run that she might go further and allow felons to vote in prison.
After signing the Minnesota bill into law in 2023, Governor Walz said the bill would give voting rights to 55,000 former inmates convicted of serious crimes.
Kamala Harris’ New Right-Hand Man, Tim Walz, Reflects Left-Wing Crime Policies
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Harris and running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz attend a campaign event at Girard College in Philadelphia on August 6, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
At least 20 other states have similar rules, controlled by both sides of the political spectrum, according to the Justice Department.
Supporters of these laws point out that such policies would allow former President Trump, who was convicted of fraud in a high-profile New York trial, to vote in the next election.
But in many other states, voting rights are not restored until post-release supervision, such as parole or probation, ends.
On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court upheld the law after nonprofit groups sued to have it overturned, state officials said. Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Mugshot of Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz after his 1995 DUI arrest in Nebraska
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate, is pictured in a 1995 arrest warrant photo taken after his arrest for drunk driving in Dawes County, Nebraska. (Dawes County Sheriff’s Office)
Allowing inmates to vote in prison would take things a step further.
Currently, Maine and Vermont are the only states that allow incarcerated felons the right to vote, according to the Department of Justice. Puerto Rico and Washington, DC also do so.
When asked whether felons should be allowed to vote in prison, CNN Town Hall “I think we should have that conversation,” Harris said during the 2019 campaign.
California proposal would restore voting rights to prisoners
She later clarified her remarks, saying it was a “complex issue” and avoided giving a yes or no answer, but she said there should be “serious consequences” for extreme crimes.
One convicted serial killer serving a life sentence in Harris’ home state of California welcomed the idea.
“I agree that voting rights would help pass restorative justice measures,” inmate Dana Gray told Fox News Digital. “They must have found a way to unfairly draw districts to take advantage of the fixed inmate population.”
Inmates walk in a line at San Quentin State Prison in California. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg/File)
But experts worry that allowing prisoners to vote could go too far.
“I think there has to be a punishment for breaking the law,” says John Kelly, a psychoanalyst and president of STALK, a company that interviews prison inmates, including several serial killers. “If there’s no punishment, why would someone stop?”
In California, voters in 2020 removed the requirement that felons must complete parole before regaining the right to vote, but a new initiative is emerging that would allow them to vote in prison.
A former federal prosecutor now based in Los Angeles Individual practicesaid the debate was a “thorny political issue” in much of the country.
“Further complicating the issue is the fact that what is a felony in one state may be a misdemeanor in another, and there are state laws that allow felonies to be reduced to misdemeanors after successfully completing probation or parole,” he told Fox News Digital. “As a former prosecutor, I believe certain types of felons should never be allowed to vote or own firearms.”
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Similarly, green card holders convicted of the most heinous crimes should face deportation, even if they have lived in the U.S. most of their lives, he added.
“Those convicted of felonies, violent crimes and certain sexual offenses should be stripped of rights enjoyed by law-abiding citizens,” he said. “While there are policy arguments in favor of rehabilitation and against disenfranchisement, the most egregious criminals should have their voting rights stripped.”
Neither the White House nor Harris’ campaign responded to requests for comment.
After Harris named Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, the Trump campaign slammed the Minnesota bill in a statement.
“It’s no surprise that San Francisco liberal Kamala Harris wants West Coast wannabe Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz has tried to remake Minnesota in the Golden State’s image during his time as governor,” campaign spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “Waltz pretends to support Midwestern Americans, but when the cameras aren’t rolling he thinks rural America is ‘mostly cattle and stones.’ From proposing his own zero-carbon policy to proposing tougher emissions standards for gasoline-powered vehicles to supporting a policy that would allow convicted felons to vote, Walz is hell-bent on spreading California’s dangerously liberal policies at large.”
Fox News reporter Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
