As I fill out my the ballot that was mailed to me last week, I think about two huge facets of voting that hinder our participating as a community. The first, a large complaint in many states, is access. Washington state mails ballots to all registered voters. The ballot has a return envelope and there are also mailing locations scattered at libraries across the state where you can physically drop your ballot. I plan on driving to my local library, no more than 3 miles away, after I finish working. In places like Michigan residents have to go to a voting location to fill out their ballot, many of which are only open during regular working hours often limiting our access to voting. It’s humorous thinking back on when I was first mailed a ballot to vote and I was shocked by how easy it was. But, isn’t participation in governance supposed to be easy? Shouldn’t the state be encouraging citizens to vote by what means are most accessible for them? In many regions this isn’t the case.
Don’t Choose to be Hindered by Accessibility or Ideology
If it isn’t inaccessibility to voting being the problem then it’s often the ideology that participating is insignificant regardless. While legislative participation is seen by some as insufficient for real substantial change in the lives of impoverished communities and communities of color hit hard by mass incarceration, we cannot fail to at the least recognize that we do have a role in selecting policymakers whose influence plays a large part in the way that are criminal justice system today. In every state there are representatives up for re-election and it is our duty to make sure that those representatives have our interests and prisoners human rights at heart. Thousands of prisoners in at least 17 states courageously protested against the injustices that have been normalized by corrections departments across the country. Many of which continue to suffer from retaliation. Now it is our duty as free citizens with the privilege to vote to use that privilege to serve our caged communities. We must be intentional about making criminal justice reform, and even more so a transformation in our criminal justice system, a priority until we see prisoners demands come into fruition.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) which proudly covered the National Prison Strike on its kickoff date this past August 21 has launched Vote Smart Justice, a movement dedicated to highlighting those candidates for Congress that are pro-criminal justice reform. For example in my district in Washington state there is Pramila Jayapal, a 6 point pro-reform U.S. representative currently in office going against Craig Keller who has no stance or interest in criminal justice reform. It is our responsibility to continue to support those in office who seek changes in our criminal justice system so that we hold them accountable for doing that work. The ACLU Vote Smart Justice movement is a great resource for selecting congress members by their positions on reform. However the database does not include any guidelines for selecting judges or district attorneys which are more of the right now needs of our criminal justice system. While congress members propose and vote on laws that influence systematic long-term changes in the system, judges and prosecutors play a direct role in the lives of individuals being effected by the system on a case by case basis. For these and guidelines on the initiative portions of the ballot, I referred to Washington state’s progressive voter guide. Similar to the San Fransisco Bay View’s Voter’s Guide for California, resources like these assist with individuals like myself who value the interests of impoverished communities and communities of color, can compare the effects of the selections on office positions and policy initiatives according to that value.
The Critical Role of Voters’ Guides
Voters guides that prioritize the best interests of the people are essential. Here in Washington, were the innocent 17 year old Chance Gittens was murdered in his front yard by police officers, initiative #940 for police accountability is likely to pass. While Washington as a whole may seem like a progressive utopia, the state had the fifth highest number of police murders in the country. The effects of this initiative would require all police officers to complete more than the current standard of only 8hrs of crisis intervention training. According to the Washington state’s progressive voter guide, “Last year, more people in Washington were killed in encounters with law enforcement than in 45 other states, and almost one-third of them were experiencing a mental health crisis. Initiative 940 would improve de-escalation, first aid, and mental health crisis training for law enforcement and help save lives.” Along with this Initiative 940 would also create a fair and independent investigation process which is key in holding officers accountable for the loss of innocent life by removing them from their own investigation processes.
In addition to being sure to check candidates stances as they relate to criminal justice reform, another tactic that activists have been working on is changing state constitutions that reflect the US constitution in upholding slavery as a legal practice for exploitation of incarcerated people. This November Colorado citizens will be voting on whether or not to continue to uphold slavery. Amendment A, “Prohibit Slavery and Involuntary Servitude in All Circumstances” is a bipartisan measure that was passed unanimously by all Republicans and Democrats in the Colorado legislature. With the influence of this year’s National Prison Strike demand #2 any citizens of Colorado should be embarrassed to vote otherwise. The passing of this amendment on a state level will have incredible effects across the nation as we all move toward the complete abolition of slavery by removing the slavery exception clauses from their constitutions.
Prioritize the Prisoners’ Right 2 Vote Campaign
While some may be cautious of a dramatic change in the systems that impede the rights of people of color in this country, we can slowly and surely fill our legislatures with people who make protecting prisoners rights and creating rehabilitative institutions out of our prisons their priority, but we can only do this if we keep track of who has prisoners interests at heart. The ACLU, San Fransisco Bay View and progressive voters guides across the country have done an amazing job in creating a comprehensive resource of candidates’ reform stances running for office and the effects of proposed initiative’s across the country. I urge everyone to take at advantage of these incredible resource by at least typing your zip code into the search bar and taking a look.
This year as a result of prisoners efforts to educate us on the outside about their conditions while providing solutions i their demands we’ve been able to see a dramatic difference in the way that voters are approaching reform on their ballot. We can see many guides and voters holding the interests of prisoners in high regard. As we look forward, I expect to see more voting guides developed by incarcerated folks through the national Right 2 Vote campaign that’s currently being built by incarcerated organizers our of South Carolina. We must not forget that millions of incarcerated and formally incarcerated people are excluded from this process across the country and the Right 2 Vote campaign addresses this with demand #10 of the National Prison Strike by placing prisoners at the center of voting conversations. If you’re interested in assisting with the Right 2 Vote Campaign please email resistinside1971@gmail.com
