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Sanders says felons should be able to vote from behind bars

While several of the dozen states with a lifetime ban on voting by felons are considering an easing of restrictions, Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to go one big step further: The Democratic presidential candidate says people convicted of felonies should never lose access to the ballot box, even while they're incarcerated.

That policy is now in place only in his home state of Vermont and neighboring Maine. Sanders said that if he becomes president he'd support nationalizing it. "In my state, what we do is separate. You're paying a price, you committed a crime, you're in jail. That's bad," he told an audience Saturday in Iowa. "But you're still living in American society and you have a right to vote. I believe in that, yes, I do."


No other presidential candidate has called for permitting all people behind bars to vote. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has called for the automatic restoration of the franchise to all felons after they're out of prison, which is the law in 14 states and Washington, D.C. In 22 states, felon voting rights are restored after completion of parole or probation.

Iowa, where the caucuses will kick off the presidential nominating process next winter, is one of a handful of states where felons can vote again only if they win permission from the governor. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds wants to make the restoration automatic, a proposal that was approved by the GOP-run state House but blocked last week by the GOP-majority state Senate.

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Dozens of Questions: How Are Trump’s Auto Parts Tariffs Affecting the Broader Economy?

Photo of a car being assembled by robotic arms

Lenny Kuhne via Unsplash

Dozens of Questions: How Are Trump’s Auto Parts Tariffs Affecting the Broader Economy?

President Donald Trump made economic waves earlier this year when he announced a 25% tariff on imported automobiles and parts with the stated goal of revitalizing U.S. auto manufacturing. Yet as of summer 2025, the majority (92%) of Mexican-made auto parts continue to enter the United States tariff-free.

That’s because of a March 2025 revision that exempts cars and parts manufactured in compliance with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) from tariffs.

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LGBTQ Refugees Came to America To Escape Discrimination. Now, They Live in Fear in the U.S.
blue and yellow abstract painting
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

LGBTQ Refugees Came to America To Escape Discrimination. Now, They Live in Fear in the U.S.

Salvadoran refugee Alberto, who is using a pseudonym out of safety concerns, did not feel secure in his own home. Being a gay man in a country known for state-sponsored violence and community rejection meant Alberto lived his life on high alert.

His family did not accept him. He says one family member physically attacked him because of his identity. He says he has been followed, harassed, and assaulted by police, accused of crimes he didn’t commit when he was studying to become a social worker. His effort to escape the rejection in his community left him, at one point, homeless and lost in a new city.

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