Eric Holder courts the cellblock vote -- Editorial, The Washington Times

Attorney general goes on the hunt for undocumented Democrats

Ever in search of new voting blocs, the administration is making felony disenfranchisement its latest cause. Felons who have served their time in prison are now to be called "returning citizens."

That's the word from Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., who demanded in a speech last week at Georgetown University that the states "fundamentally reconsider laws that permanently disenfranchise people" after they complete probation or parole.

The nation's top law enforcement officer says state laws barring "returning citizens" from casting a ballot make "reintegration" into society more difficult. He cites a Florida study that concludes that former prisoners with restored voting rights have a lower rate of return to a career in crime.

Perhaps, but it seems more likely Mr. Holder has in mind a new survey by the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, which found that a mere one in 10 returning felons registers to vote as a Republican.

It's not hard to see why. Democrats are notoriously soft on crime, and that's exactly how professional criminals like it. It's not necessarily good for the rest of society to establish a mutually beneficial relationship between criminals and Democrats.

Mr. Holder insists disenfranchisement perpetuates "the stigma and isolation imposed on formerly incarcerated individuals," which increases their desire to commit crimes. Translation: "If they won't let me vote, I'll just stick up another 7-Eleven." We're not persuaded.

....

We would take Mr. Holder's proposal seriously if this administration were even half as passionate about making sure that U.S. military men and women serving overseas can get an absentee ballot in time to make it count.

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