I believe it to be a short-sited thing, but honestly necessary. This is due to the very large range of federal convictions. It goes from having some pot on you, to armed robbery and murder. I don’t agree that those things should necessarily (case by case) include the same voting restrictions, but there is no way the US government is going to take the time to separate the “worse” crimes from the “lesser”. And, as has been mentioned before the goal of the US penal system is (sadly) not rehabilitation. As long as the government has that attitude, it will never change. You lose more than just the right to vote as a felon, btw. The rights most often curtailed include the right to vote and hold public office, employment rights, domestic rights, and financial and contractual rights.