Students must submit a research paper on the issue of voting rights for convicted felons in Texas. Your paper must meet the following requirements: 1) Identify and explain the current TEXAS law regarding the voting rights of the following types of Texas citizens: 

a. Those currently incarcerated;

b. Those released from prison but who are still on parole;

c. Those who are ex-convicts and have completed their parole. 

2) Explain whether or not you think any or all of these laws should be changed. Give specific reasons for your position. Give at least two specific reasons for your position. 

3) Describe who may or may not benefit from the position you take in 2) above. Consider the impact on political parties, or on candidates for various Texas State offices and also consider the impact in other areas, e.g., economic, political, social.

4) List at least two things you could do in order to engage the political process in Texas in pursuit of your position in 2) above.

5) Cite at least three (3) reliable, scholarly references within the body of the paper using the parenthetical citation style (see below for link). One of the citations MUST come from the class textbook (-10 penalty points if this is not done), and NONE may be from ANY encyclopedia, including kids.law.com and Wikipedia (-10 penalty points if this is done). You must have at least three parenthetical citations in the body of the paper that correctly match the sources properly formatted in the Works Cited section.

A paper with no parenthetical source citations in its body will receive a grade of 0; no second chances.

A paper with no Works Cited Page at the end will receive a grade of 0; no second chances. 

Footnotes and endnotes are not allowed. Instead, your paper must use parenthetical citations in the body of the paper and a Works Cited Page at the end that conform to the Author-Date format from the Chicago Manual of Style. Students must be very careful and pay attention to details when they examine and cite internet websites. 

6) Submit your paper in two separate sections of eCourses: a. Using the Taskstream link (this is for assessment purposes); and b. Using the Turn It In link (this is for grading purposes). i. You do NOT need a code to submit to Turn It In; just log into eCourses and click on the link that says, “Writing Assignment: Research Paper,” then click on the submission tab and follow the prompts to upload your paper. All papers must have a title. All written assignments must be typed, in 12-point font, and double-spaced. Only assignments submitted through eCourses will be accepted for grading. No late assignments will be taken under any circumstances. Assignments that are sent via email, slipped under my office door or stuck in my campus mailbox will not be accepted for grading. This grade will NOT be dropped under any circumstances. 

Your report should be about 2-3 pages of text (not counting the works cited section). Papers are graded according to the following four criteria: 1) content; 2) organization; 3) quality of writing; and 4) quality of research sources and reference citation formats.