Lauren Ritchie: Released felons deserve voting rights.

Some 1.6 million people in Florida can’t vote — they’re not eligible because they’ve been convicted of felonies.

Never mind that the felony may have been 40 years ago and it may have been for something like driving with a suspended license or illegally messing with a lobster to get a tasty meal.

Florida is one of only four states in the nation that holds a grudge. That should change for lots of reasons that benefit both the person who served time and the rest of society. Enter Desmond Meade. Meade, an Orlando resident who is also a former drug addict, was convicted of drug and firearm charges in 2001. He later put himself through school and earned a law degree.

So he understood very personally what this fight was about when he began working to amend the Florida Constitution to restore voting rights for convicted felons after they successfully finish their entire sentence, including probation or parole.

“When we hear ‘felon,’ we stop thinking about people as people,” Meade said. “We have to face the fact that they’ve been made to pay a price, that they paid their debt.”

Meade took to the road. He said that he put 150,000 miles on his car as head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition to get 70,000 verified signatures on his petition to get an amendment to the Florida Constitution.

That triggered a review by the state Supreme Court, which agreed that Meade’s wording was clear enough for a statewide ballot. It says “voting rights shall be restored upon completion of all terms of sentence, including parole or probation. No person convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense shall be qualified to vote until restoration of civil rights.”

Meade’s exclusion of murderers and sex offenders was the perfect compromise for more conservative residents. And, the restoration of voting rights is just that, nothing more — the convicted felon doesn’t get all his or her civil rights without going through a long clemency process. For example, his amendment wouldn’t let a felon run for or hold office, possess ammunition or a gun, sit on a jury or be a teacher.

Meade said that allowing convicted felons to vote gives people a place in society and a stake in it. Those who are part of society don’t tend to rip it apart. They more often become taxpaying citizens and commit more crimes less often.

Even the most conservative of voter advocates is behind Meade’s proposal — at least in basic ways.

Take, for example, Hans A. von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the very conservative Heritage Foundation and a