Mayoral candidate supports taking away welfare recipients' right to vote

Racine Mayoral Candidate Jody Harding supports taking away people's right to vote if they're on welfare or receiving other forms of government subsidies.

Harding first shared her opinion in February 2008 on her blog, "The World According to Jody." (Read the post here.) She writes:

In American hearts, the vote is probably our most sacred right, so what I am about to say may shock you.

I believe that any individual who is receiving a government subsidy should lose his/her right to vote for as long as s/he receives that subsidy.

This right would be reinstated as soon as the government subsidies ceased; however, no vote could be cast as long government “aid” was received. By “aid” I mean any form of payment from the government, whether it be cash or voucher, food stamps, housing allowance, aid to dependent children or farm subsidies. Any payment or reduced expense funded by the government should cause its recipient to lose his/her right to vote.

The only exceptions would be

* Payments for work that would receive a wage in the private sector
* Social security retirement benefits
* Short term unemployment benefits
* Any benefit that improves the community at large, such as the provisions for police, public schools, public roads, etc.
* Any other government benefit would cause the loss of the right to vote.

Harding confirmed her stance in an email to RacinePost on Thursday night.

I think my blog post was very clear, and concisely stated my opinion and, equally important, my reasoning. I would compare the vote of people living on government subsidies approximately equivalent to politicians voting on whether or not to give themselves a raise.

According to state data, 209 Racine County residents participated in the state's W-2 program in January. Another 1,500 people received housing vouchers from the Housing Authority of Racine County and 29,058 Racine County residents received food stamps in 2008.

Harding believes as long as these people receive government assistance, they shouldn't be allowed to vote. The same appears to go for anyone who receives disability payments, the 597 pregnant women in Racine County and the 5,907 adult caretakers in Racine County who participate in BadgerCare.