Sen. Lindsey Graham blasted Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders Tuesday after the potential presidential candidate claimed the Boston Marathon bomber and others should have the “right to vote” from prison.
“Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse….@BernieSanders supports allowing rapists, murderers, and terrorists – like the Boston bomber and Dylan Roof, the individual who massacred 9 church-goers in Charleston, to vote from prison,” posted Graham on social media.
“I look forward to hearing his explanation — in South Carolina — why Dylan Roof should be allowed to vote in the upcoming elections,” he added.
I look forward to hearing his explanation — in South Carolina — why Dylan Roof should be allowed to vote in the upcoming elections.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) April 23, 2019
Sanders made national headlines Monday night during his televised town hall event when he said rapists, murderers, and other convicted felons should take part in national elections.
BERNIE: Boston Marathon Bomber Has ‘Right to Vote’ from Death Row to Create ‘Vibrant Democracy’
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders doubled-down on his proposal to allow convicted felons to vote from federal prisons Monday night; saying Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -the Boston Marathon Bomber- should be “enfranchised” to protect a “vibrant democracy.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders says the right to vote should be extended "even for terrible people" https://t.co/M3U37R21GK #SandersTownHall pic.twitter.com/5wmhSdvrRj
— CNN (@CNN) April 23, 2019
“You have said that you believe that people with felony records should be allowed to vote while in prison. Does this mean that you would support enfranchising people like the Boston Marathon bomber?” asked an audience member during Monday’s town hall event.
“I believe in creating a vibrant democracy… If somebody commits a serious crime- sexual assault, murder, they’re gonna be punished. They may be in jail for 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, their whole lives. That’s what happens when you commit a serious crime,” said Sanders.
“But, I think the right to vote is inherent to our democracy. Yes, even for terrible people,” he added.
PLAN B: Bernie Sanders Says Felons Should Be Allowed to Vote from Prisons in US Elections
Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders urged state officials across the country to allow imprisoned felons to vote in national elections over the weekend; saying it’s “absolutely the direction we should go.
Sanders was speaking with supporters in Iowa Saturday when he was asked if the imprisoned should be allowed to cast their ballot while serving their jail sentences.
“While Iowa struggles on whether to restore voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentences, Sen. Bernie Sanders said people convicted of felonies should never lose access to the ballot box in the first place,” writes the Des Moines Register.
“I think that is absolutely the direction we should go,” said Sanders, whose home-state of Vermont and Maine are the only two states in the country to allow incarcerated individuals to vote from behind bars.
“In my state, what we do is separate. You’re paying a price, you committed a crime, you’re in jail. That’s bad,” he said. “But you’re still living in American society and you have a right to vote. I believe in that, yes, I do.”
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