Will Sen. Lee Introduce Legislation Giving Convicted GOP Felons The Right To Vote?*

After all, as the number of anticipated convicts grows, it could become outcome determinative.

Photo by Francesca Runza on Unsplash

I’d have little time for anything else if I posted every time the senior senator from Utah said something stupid. You know the guy, like a preacher waiving a bible on stage and spewing cherry-picked verses to support his agenda, he pulls out his pocket constitution from time to time as a prop — or crutch — to rationalize his positions. He Xed (f/k/a “tweeted) “democracy is not the objective” and “rank democracy can thwart liberty.” He near-deified Trump shortly before the 2020 presidential election, characterizing him as a virtuous, god-like servant who cares nothing for himself or publicity but only for the peace and well-being of the American people — the ones who survived his catastrophic response to Covid. See Senator Mike Lee Isn’t A Serious Person — He’s Dangerous, But Not Serious.

Shortly after Mr. Biden took office in 2021, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), continuing with his religious theme, announced on Fox News that H.R. 1, the bill aimed at expanding voting rights, was so bad it could have been “written in hell by the devil himself.” He and others on the right are offended by laws meant to assure open, free, and fair elections which place the GOP at a distinct disadvantage. One of H.R. 1’s provisions to which Lee took infernal exception would restore voting rights for convicted felons who had completed their prison sentences.

But even that wouldn’t have helped the GOP in the next election, or the next.

Oil on Canvas, Richard J Van Wagoner, Courtesy of Van Wagoner Family Trust**

Disenfranchisement for convicted felons has been in the news. While congress can override many state election laws under Article I, Section 4, Clause 1 of the Constitution, states are currently left to decide for themselves the rights of convicted felons to vote.

The right to vote for this growing number of GOP defendants will depend on the states where they are citizens upon conviction — which I’m not presuming. Georgia and Florida, by the way, are less convicted-felon-voter-friendly than many other states. So the guy…