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Texas Law

Introduction

The United States comprise of many laws and legislation in the federal system of the country. These laws are very important for the country to guide people as to what are the points that they have to follow in accordance with the law of the country. Among the many laws of the country, a there exist also a law for voting of felons. Every state has its own law regarding the voting rights of felons. It has been observed in the respective law that once an individual is convicted of felony, he loses certain rights including the right to vote in the national, state or local elections. It has been stated the law of some states that the rights of voting for felons would be restored after tenure of 5 years time. It is important to understand that these rights will be restored only if the individual does not associate himself in any other activity regarding felony.

The law that has been selected for discussion in this paper is the law for voting of felons under probation in Texas. I wish to change this law relating to the voting rights of felons under probation. This paper will involve the advantages and disadvantages of the current law regarding the voting rights of felons, and the advantages and disadvantages of the changes that I wish to make in the existing law. A brief discussion about the voting rights of felons in Texas is mentioned as follows.

The Existing Law of Voting for Felons Under Probation in Texas

The existing law of voting for felons in Texas allows felons who have completed their tenure of punishment to participate and vote in the elections. The legislation that is being practiced in Texas relating to the selected issue is the “Help America Vote Act” (Hull, pp. 48). This act was amended in 2002. The Texas law has strictly prohibited felons under probation to vote in the elections. According to the Texas Secretary of State, a certain criterion is provided for the candidates to be eligible to vote. This criterion includes the candidate to be a citizen of the United States and currently residing in the country as well. In addition to that, the candidate should be 18 years or more of age. However, the ex-offenders are forced to register themselves again in order to vote. It is considered very important according to the law for ex-offenders to register again to be eligible for participating and voting in elections (Samaha, pp. 522).

Advantages

The advantage of the existing law for voting rights for felons under probation is that the law enables the individuals to experience and realize that they are not allowed to experience any favor during their probation period or punishment. The right and availability for voting is considered not only a right, but it is considered as a privilege for everyone. The felons are made to realize that they have made a very serious mistake by committing crime, and they should not repeat this crime ...