“We have to care because we can't afford not to".

This is a hugely important issue. I think that everyone IN prison during any election local to their home jurisdiction (not the prison’s) and/or national elections should be allowed to vote absentee for any and all. I think that a commonsense justice system (which is the opposite of what we have) would encourage democratic participation by those in the prison system and offer classes in citizenship like they do for sobriety and other things that earn “good time.” I would bet there is a huge correlation between repeat and/or violent offenders and lack of participation in the democratic process, i.e., voting, and awareness about issues in elections, before their incarceration. Learning the power of being a voice for change, of being heard, of being part of the enfranchised and having a stake in the outcomes of elections in which we each have a voice may be a very powerful motivator for many in the system. It’s unconscionable, at a minimum, that after a sentence is served a felon can’t vote. It would piss me off enough to remain a life-time outlaw, and I’ve never had more than a traffic ticket, myself. This absolutely needs to change, and I say bring absentee voting into the prison system. What kind of democratic republic of a government disenfranchises ANYONE?