Kemp endorses voting rights for former felons

The House Judiciary Committee has started hearings on renewing the 40 year-old Voting Rights Act. Key provisions of the act are set to expire in 2007.

During the hearing, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, (D-NY) suggested that Congress amend the act to restore voting rights to felons who have served their time. Jack Kemp, the Republican nominee for Vice President in 1996, was testifying before the committee and voiced his support for the idea.

"It's important, if we're going to call ourselves a democracy, that everybody more or less have the right to vote," Nadler said.

Kemp quickly endorsed the idea, pointing out that minorities are disproportionately charged with felonies.

"My answer is unambiguously yes," said Kemp, a former congressman from New York, one of a handful of states that restores voting rights to criminals once they complete their prison term or probation. "It is a restriction that needs to be modified."