Maryland Politics -- Felon Voting

John Lott writes in the Baltimore Sun on the Dems latest tactical moves:

WASHINGTON // If you can't win elections, change the rules.

Despite warnings from people such as the chairman of Maryland's State Board of Elections that the new rules are inviting voter fraud, the General Assembly has pushed through regulations weakening safeguards on provisional ballots, absentee ballots and a long early voting period.

Not satisfied, the legislature now wants to make it easier for convicted murderers, rapists, armed robbers and other violent criminals to vote. Overall, 150,000 felons would be eligible.

Read it here.

This has become a favored Democrat strategy across the nation, driven by studies that show Bill Clinton recieving well in excess of 90% of criminal votes. There are good arguments to be made on both sides, but as with nearly everything in the political mix, principles and reasoned argument are irrelevant. Democrats, having lost a number of close elections, are looking for votes in all the wrong places, and Republicans are seeking to block them. Lott calculates that in Maryland the changes will add about 150,000 voters to the rolls, which will probably result in about 40,000 additional Democrat votes in the fall elections.

And so it goes....