The United States of America has fought for individual rights and freedoms throughout history, since 1792, when Kentucky was the first state of the United States to ban criminals from voting. Now, the only two states where you can vote while in prison are Maine and Vermont. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayOne of the most controversial topics has been the right to vote. Every citizen of the United States deserves the right to vote and this should not be something that can be taken away. Should prisoners be able to vote? The essay on this issue is quite controversial. Prisoners should be allowed to vote because it is an individual right. Our founding fathers decided that we should have the right to vote, even if you are a prisoner. If you don't have the right to vote you go against the Eighth Amendment, which provides for just and not cruel punishments. It's cruel to not have the right to vote just because you're in prison, even if you're a citizen. you are not allowed to vote in prison. Not only is voting a civil right, but not voting is a civil death that the government has been trying to move away from for the past two decades. Prisoners should be able to vote to express their political opinions and have the right to the First Amendment, free speech. For over 30 years the government has wanted to give prisoners better living space and more rights within prison that they didn't have before. An example of this is when 13 states allow ex-felons to vote after their sentences end and have gone through a procedure to prove that they are of sound mind and have the ability to think correctly. According to Martin Luther King Jr. “No nation can long continue to prosper or find its way to a better society while allowing each of its citizens to be denied the right to participate in the most fundamental of all the privileges of democracy: the right to vote ”. This is a quote that MLK said when he was fighting for equal rights with slavery. You can compare him to the present day and how he thinks every citizen should deserve the right to vote. Just because they committed a crime doesn't mean they should be stripped of their right to vote. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay There are no reasons why prisoners should not be allowed to vote in this essay, because every prisoner deserves the right to vote. It is their individual right, it could help them re-enter society and it could influence elections. Works Cited American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.). Map of criminal disenfranchisement laws. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voter-restoration/felony-disenfranchisement-laws-mapBates, K., & Pennington, D. (2018). The ethics of prisoner voting. Oxford University Press.Human Rights Watch. (2018). Democracy in Lockdown: US Election Sanctions and Vulnerable Communities. Jacobson, M. (2019). Prisoner disenfranchisement and suffrage in the United States. The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems, 599-617. National Conference of State Legislatures. (2022). Criminal voting rights. Retrieved from https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/felon-voting-rights.aspxOffice of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2022). The right to political participation. Soss, J., Schram, S., Vartanian, T., & O'Brien, K. (2019). Establishing reentry deadlines: How state statutes define who can vote after a criminal conviction. Law & Social Inquiry, 44(1), 1-34. The sentencing project. (2021). Deprivation., 34(1), 51-82.