The Right2Vote Campaign was born out of 2018’s National Prison Strike where incarcerated citizens led a nationwide demonstration against the abhorrent conditions of United States prisons. The strike was so vast that it spread across 17 states into 3 additional regions outside of the U.S. Prisoners made their demands known worldwide and what seemed to some to be the most ambitious demand of them all became the battle cry that expanded into the New Suffrage movement of 2019.
Over this past year several states introduced legislation to restore the voting rights of citizens impacted by incarceration, from grassroots to large organizations. In January California, Massachusetts, Missouri, Washington, New Mexico and New York all filed bills towards an end to felony disenfranchisement. By February organizers at Chicago Votes in Illinois and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth in Kentucky filed bills as well. Throughout the beginning of this year organizers in these states, in partnership with others from all over the country, worked together to bring their state closer to full enfranchisement.
Networking to Rapid Growth
It’s incredible to see the way that the Right2Vote campaign has taken shape so far this year. Beginning with incarcerated citizens hope of being heard by officials, their demands reached the ears of outside organizers that were more than willing to respond to their call. Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, a group of incarcerated activists, recruited spokespeople to relay their demands to the outside world. In a similar manner Initiate Justice organizers in California responded to incarcerated Californian’s call by joining together under the understanding that, “Democracy Needs Everyone”. These words that originally left the lips of Juan incarcerated at Chuckawalla Vally State Prison, evolved into the national slogan of this suffrage movement.
In April, by the time of Bernie’s presidential campaign announcement in favor of restoring voting rights to prisons, like those in his state of Vermont, the issue rose to the level of national debate. Now 2020 candidates were being asked to respond directly to the question of prisoners voting rights. Those who were not in favor were forced to defend their lack of support of a fully enfranchised democracy. Following some candidates, like Corey Booker’s, refusing to take a stance dozens of organizations signed on to a letter to presidential candidates on voting rights saying, “We need a President who will stand up for the right of all Americans to vote. We thus ask each of you to publicly commit to ending felony disenfranchisement and to call for the restoration of voting rights for all citizens, regardless of their criminal history.”
With Bernie defending the rights of even the most heinous of criminals, restoring prisoners voting rights has become as simple as helping people understand that the right to vote is inherit to citizenship. The public is beginning to realize that one’s citizenship is not lost in the same way that one’s humanity is not lost during their incarceration.
Stalled in Committee
At this point, each of the state’s individual voting bills have already been assigned to a committee in their state’s legislature except for in California. Initiate Justice, a California based organization, continues to wait for their bill, ACA 6, to be assigned to committee. However, its sister bill, AB 646 that was created in order to adjust the laws that would be affected by ACA 6 has already been assigned to the Elections & Redistricting Committee though it was introduced months after ACA 6. ACA 6 would need to be heard, voted on and passed by the Spring of 2020 in order to be included on the 2020 ballot. Aside from California, all of the other state’s bills continue to sit in committee waiting for representatives to move them forward. Organizers have to work hard in order to get committee members’ attention for a voting hearing in order to for their bill to move forward to the next step in the process.
For example, in New Mexico Millions for Prisoners’ organizers had their hearing date rescheduled multiple times. Supporters who’d the’d gotten to testify were unable to do so after a their Friday March 1 hearing date was rescheduled to Monday. Thankfully I was able to attend the bill’s hearing with the House Judiciary Committee. While sitting in the committee hearing for House Bill 57 I realized how far some of our representatives are from recognizing the humanity of incarcerated citizens, and even the humanity of formerly incarcerated citizens. Currently in New Mexico one’s right to vote is not restored until after the completion of probation or parole. Tens of thousands of people are disenfranchised as a result. During the hearing, dozens of people stood up and shared testimony as to why formerly incarcerated and incarcerated residents should have their voting rights restored. To my dismay, after hearing all of those testimonies representative James Townsend stated that, though it was nice to hear the thoughts of all the people he still believed that as a part of serving one sentence they shouldn’t be allowed to vote because they need to “prove themselves”.
Disqualified from Democracy
A lot of people still hold this insensitive worldview believing that certain behaviors disqualify citizens to participate in democracy but but in a corrective environment, serving time should actually encourage a person to be more politically engaged. Sadly, the opposite is true in our country because of the fact that felony disenfranchisement is an attack on impoverished communities and communities of color. Felony disenfranchisement is a symptom left behind from the Jim Crow era. A country that’s committed to the abolition of slavery should also be committed to repealing any laws that were put in place in order to uphold slave practices and that includes the felony disenfranchisement.
During this first quarter of this year the suffrage movement has stretched farther than it ever has in order to be inclusive of all citizens within our democracy. The fight for incarcerated citizens voting rights isn’t new. Last year organizers in both California and New Jersey began the process to restore voting rights to prisoners. California organizers collected thousands of signatures on the Voting Restoration and Democracy Act to restore the voting rights of prisoners. There’s an obvious desire from citizens from the East to the West coast to make our democracy more inclusive of everyone involved, especially our most marginalized and unheard members.
Today many of the efforts have reached a legislative road block with many committees, rather than allowing citizens to see where they stand on this essential issue, are allowing these bills to sit in committee until the next legislative session. Legislators do not want to be known as the one who voted against the expansion of voting rights but they also don’t want to seem too radical by moving it forward. This has been the case in every single state involved in the campaign: Massachusetts, SD25 & SD26; New Jersey, A3456 & S2100; New Mexico, HB57; Illinois, SB 2090; Virginia, SJ261 & SJ262; Washington, SB 5076 & SB 5207; California, ACA6; New York, S1931 & A4987; Missouri, HB 508 and Kentucky, SB 238. After seeing the way that legislation took its dips and turns, organizers behind the bills are looking into ways to take the legislative process into their own hands. For example, in Massachusetts organizers are preparing to go on a petitioning campaign in order to restore voting rights to their caged community members. Likewise in Michigan and Ohio where representatives had not introduced R2V legislation, citizens are researching the steps for restoring prisoners voting rights through citizen initiatives.
The issue of voting rights isn’t all about politics, it has a lot to do with who we see as worthy of voicing their opinion. Who we allow to vote shines a light on who we view as valuable and human. The conversation raises the question of, Who belongs in America? Who deserves to have a seat at the table? What makes someone American enough? I want America to be inclusive of its own citizens, even the ones who have engaged in behaviors that we don’t approve of. The only way that we can make our country a more equitable place for everyone is if we include everyone. Right now America isn’t working well for those impacted by incarceration, but we can help America work better if we allow those individuals to give us a portion of their experience though simply casting their ballot.
Attica Prisoners Paved the Way
This demand for full enfranchisement is growing into reality in the exact same way that prisoners ignited a new wave of national conversation in 1971’s Attica Prison Riot. As a result of prisoners demands then, poisoners today have access to at least a few programs and classes in their facility. Restrictions are inconsistent and biased against those labeled as violent offenders but in 1971 many programs were completely none existent. During Attica, a couple of Prisoners’ demands then were, “We Demand the establishment of unionized vocational training programs comparable to that of the Federal Prison System which provides for union instructions, union pay scales, and union membership upon completion of the vocational training course.” and “We Demand annual accounting of the inmates Recreational Fund and formulation of an inmate committee to give inmates a voice as to how such funds are used.” As a result of these demands the national consciousness recognized a need for reform. Vocation and Training programs were brought into the prison and in states like Michigan a prison benefit fund (PBF) was created. Now corrections departments are required to have funds dedicated to programming and prisoner needs.
Though the quantity and quality of programming isn’t ideal, the establishment of such programs would be nonexistent had prisons not demanded it in 1971. Prisoners would be hindered by gang and race barriers had George Jackson not tore down those walls in 1971. In the same way no one would be talking about prisoners voting rights had prisoners not risked their lives to organize a national demonstration last year. People pay attention when prisoners stand up because the state works so hard to suppress their voices. Voting is a tool used to tally the collective concerns of those who may not have access to officials otherwise. Voting is the perfect tool for prisoners! Especially in this day where violence and abuse re normalized in the facilities were they reside with no effective procedure for filing their grievances or addressing their concerns.
Prisoners in the Attica Uprising concluded their demands with the statement, “The taxpayers who just happen to be our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters and sons should be made aware of how their tax dollars are being spent to deny their sons, brothers, fathers and uncles of justice, equality and dignity.” This statement continues to reign true. As taxpaying citizens on the outside we are responsible to our caged community members for their conditions. There’s no reason why we’re paying $30,000/year on average on each prisoner for them to live in deplorable conditions with no access to proper medical care. It’s time that we give prisoners the vote so that they can help us correct the injustices that they’re faced to live under. Total reformation of the criminal justice system is going to take time and the need to do so is long overdue, but the first step is to make sure that the brothers and sisters whose lives depend on these changes have the right to vote when they come through.
