Giving felons the right to vote can be a very bad idea. Most felons vote for the Democrats, and they tend to vote for liberal Democrats in a Democratic Primary. So if you live in a state like Florida where statewide elections are often close, letting felons vote will result in liberal Democrats winning those races, regardless of how you vote.
By letting felons vote, you are effectively disenfranchising yourself and other moderate and conservative voters in the state. For this reason, Florida residents should vote against Amendment Four, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons. If it passes, the Democrats will win most future statewide elections, even if they pick ideological extremists like Andrew Gillum (who is already favored to win today’s election for governor) or people more extreme than Gillum (who wants to raise taxes and has proposed new state spending that would bankrupt the state if it actually became a reality — his healthcare plan alone would cost around $200 billion per year, more than the entire current Florida state budget). The Democrats will not need to pick moderate Democrats to win, if felons can vote. They will be able to pick radicals and win.
Nor is there any reason in fairness why there should be a blanket restoration of rights to felons. Historically, society has not allowed some people to vote, including children, noncitizens, felons, and the mentally incompetent. That is because we have certain minimum standards before giving someone the power to participate in the solemn enterprise of selecting lawmakers and government officials. People who commit serious crimes against their fellow citizens do not qualify.
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Voters should also vote against California’s rent control proposition, Proposition 10. As Walter Olson explains, it will result in shortages of housing, and also menace property rights in that state.
Voters should also vote against Missouri’s minimum wage proposition, Proposition B. It would do more to wipe out jobs than to actually increase wages over the long run. Proposition B would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 by 2023. That amount is too high for a state with low living costs, low average wages, and low company profits like Missouri, which has the seventh-lowest living costs in the nation. Thus, it will result in many jobs being wiped out between 2021 and 2023.
Increasing the minimum wage does no good if it results in low-wage workers being fired rather than getting a raise. Twelve dollars goes farther in Missouri than $15 in high-living-cost California. But economists have said that California’s $15 minimum wage, which will go into effect by 2023, is too high and will wipe out many jobs. An economist at Moody’s calculated that 160,000 jobs will be lost in California’s manufacturing sector alone due to its increase, and in all sectors, the job loss is likely to exceed 700,000 jobs.
