Pollster Dalia Mogahed said in an interview that aired Thursday on “What America’s Thinking” that Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) stated belief that felons should be allowed to vote in prison will not hurt him in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
“I don’t think it will hurt his chances,” Mogahed, director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, told Hill.TV’s Jamal Simmons on Wednesday.
“Unless this is something he keeps emphasizing, people will probably let it go and forget about it as we move forward,” she continued.
Sanders made headlines last week at a CNN town hall when he said that all prisoners, including domestic terrorists such as the Boston Marathon bomber, should have the right to vote while they are incarcerated.
“His perspective is that voting is a human right, and therefore, you can never lose that right, even if you’ve done something horrific,” Mogahed said.
Fellow 2020 contender South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg said felons should not be able to vote while they serve their sentences, but former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) have said nonviolent offenders should be able to vote while in prison.
— Julia Manchester
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