The Reverend Kenneth Glasgow has become something of a saint to many prisoners and former inmates in Alabama, thanks to years of hard work and one lucky discovery.

The one-time convict and drug addict has devoted his post-prison days to helping those still inside regain their voting privileges. And somewhere along the way, he discovered that many of them had never lost it in the first place.

Apparently, in Alabama a criminal only loses his or her right to vote for crimes committed with "moral turpitude." That is, any act that would be considered "immoral" even if it were not illegal. This rules out a great many misdemeanors, but also opens the floor to much debate over morality.

Some might argue, for example, that smoking marijuana is perfectly moral behavior, while others would emphatically argue the opposite. Fortunately for drug offenders -- 3,000 of the 29,000 inmates in Alabama -- state agencies thus far agree that drug possession is not an immoral offense.

Neither the Legislature nor the attorney general has offered a definitive list of crimes that involve "moral turpitude", but the discovery of this loop-hole in the Alabama Constitution has already resulted in registering hundreds of new voters -- with thousands more also eligible.

Nationwide, some 5.3 million people are currently barred from their right to vote, but this discovery by Reverend Glasgow (who happens to be Al Sharpton's half-brother, by the way) might just reinvest some of them with a privilege they'd long given up on ever having again.

This could shape up to be a most interesting election, indeed.