In 48 states, prisoners are not allowed to vote; however, they are allowed to run for office. A recent example of this phenomenon occurred back in 2004 during the presidential election. Leonard Peltier, a criminal sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for murdering a pair of FBI agents, was on California’s ballot as the candidate for the Peace and Freedom party. Peltier ended up receiving 27,607 votes – 0.2% of the overall total for the state!
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