Speaking in Iowa last weekend, Bernie Sanders said he wants the entire country to allow people convicted of felonies to vote from behind bars, following the lead of his home state of Vermont. In doing so, he joins a long line of socialists pushing for universal suffrage.

Maine and Vermont are alone in placing no restrictions on voting based on criminal convictions. Everywhere else, felons in particular are denied the ballot during incarceration and often afterward. In ten states, it is possible for convicted felons to lose their right to vote for life.

Proponents of felony disenfranchisement laws argue that because serious crime is a breach of the social contract, it is justifiable to expel felons from the political body, even though the right to vote is generally understood as a basic tenet of democracy.