美国有线新闻 CNN 佛罗里达州选民通过一项历史法案 140万名前重罪犯重获投票权

 

In a U.S. state known for razor thin voting margins¹, more than 1 million people just became eligible² to vote. A down the middle explanation of that is what's first today on CNN 10. I'm Carl Azuz, welcome to the show.

A new state law just to??ok effect in Florida that will restore voting rights to people who've been convicted of felonies, serious crimes. Until this week, Florida was one of four states where convicted felons³ were never allowed to vote again.

But in last November's mid-term elections, almost 65 percent of Florida's voters decided⁴ to change that giving the right to vote back to about 1.4 million former offenders⁵. People convicted of murder or certain types of assault are still not allowed to vote. For those who are, the law requires them to have completed all the terms of their criminal sentences. There's been some confusion about that. For one thing, it's up to the former offenders themselves to determine whether they've completed their terms.

But what about any fines they've been ordered to pay? An election supervisor⁶ says, the law isn't clear about how that should be handled. The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, a civil rights group, led the effort to get the law passed. It calls the change a non-partisan issue but the law has some critics on both sides of the political aisle⁷. Some say convicted felons should first prove they can live a life free of crime before they're allowed to vote. Others have said that all former offenders should be allowed to vote even if they've committed crimes like murder.

This law's getting a lot of attention specifically because it's taking effect in Florida. Politically it's considered a swing state. One that could choose either a Democrat⁸ or a Republican. And because it's a state with a high number of electoral votes, political analysts⁹ are trying to figure out how this could effect Florida's influence on future elections.

1 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

2 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

3 felons   

n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎

参考例句：

• Aren't those the seats they use for transporting convicted felons? 这些坐位不是他们用来押运重犯的吗？ 来自电影对白
• House Republicans talk of making felons out of the undocumented and those who help them. 众议院共和党议员正商议对未登记的非法移民以及包庇他们的人课以重罪。 来自互联网

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 offenders   

n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物）

参考例句：

• Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
• Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。

6 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

7 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

8 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。