Steadily the needle is pushing away from felony disenfranchisement and toward a more just democracy that values the voices of all of its citizens, regardless of their individual conviction history. In Michigan HB 5336 was introduced by Sarah Anthony at the end of last month in order to allow people in prison to register to vote during their incarceration. While the bill doesn’t restore voting rights entirely to people in prison, it does take a definitive step towards that goal by ensuring that, “the individual is considered a resident of the city or township, and address, at which he or she resided before confinement.” With the Michigan in the midst of a county redistricting process, reallocating seats in congress that would have drastic impacts for the next decade, the passage of this bill would at the very least put an end to the practice of prison gerrymandering that’s worked to whittle away the democratic guarantee of representation for people incarcerated in Michigan’s 31 state prisons since their inception.
Prison gerrymandering in combination with felony disenfranchisement have successfully silenced the millions of voices impacted by the U.S. criminal legal system. Now, recognizing that these policies that restrict the voting rights and political influence of people in prison, on parole, probation and even for those who’ve completed all of their sentencing and post-sentencing requirements in states like Tennessee and Kentucky (where all people with felony convictions are permanently disenfranchised) are practices directly tied to those of the Jim Crow Era. In response people in prison with the support of grassroots partners, are forging ahead with calls to push back the impacts of felony disenfranchisement all over the country. However, in certain bolder states, organizers are committed to abolishing the practice of felony disenfranchisement entirely by restoring the right to vote to people while in prison.
In Illinois, SB 828 was cosponsored by Rep. LaShawn Ford and Sen. Mike Simmons to restore the right to vote to roughly 30,000 Illinoisans in prison. Currently Illinois, like Michigan, does not allow people to vote while in prison, but the passage of this bill would allow for a person convicted of a sentence in a correctional institution in Illinois would have their right to vote maintained and would be eligible to vote no later than 14 days following his or her conviction. Recognizing that people in prison are directly impacted by decisions made by elected officials, there’s no legitimate reason why citizens should be blocked out of the legislative processes that govern their lives while incarcerated. This policy is cruel and unusual punishment beyond the sentence being served itself. Organizations like, Chicago Votes, are leading in the advocacy of SB 828, justifying the support of individuals participating in the legislative process though their direct civic engagement could be a rehabilitative element to our prison system that we should embrace. An avid Right2Vote Subscriber and advocate incarcerated in Illinois’ Department of Corrections pleads, “As someone who has been sitting in prison for the last two decades, I know the full effects of being disenfranchised. It leaves us vulnerable to a voting public that has almost zero concern for our welfare, and deprives us of both a voice in society and what could be a powerful tool to facilitate our return to useful citizenship.” Individuals can sign on in support of Chicago Votes Voting In Prison Bill here.
Our democracy works better when more people are involved, especially through the simple and direct act of voting which is known to be the cornerstone of our democratic system. Unfortunately this cornerstone is deeply cracked without incarcerated citizen’s participation by voting, which according to Bill Simms another loyal subscriber of the Right2Vote in Texas’ Dept. of Corrections, “should be an unalienable right”. Civic engagement strengthens an individual’s ties to their community, reducing the likelihood that one would recidivate. Unfortunately, many incarcerated individuals never had the opportunity to vote prior to their incarceration (due to their minor age or lack of legislative understanding) but while incarcerated many come into contact with the law in a unique way by gaining legal expertise that expand their perspective of the legal systems that they may have ignored prior. With the passage of bills like Illinois’ SB 828 and Michigan’s HB 5336 people in prison will be able to take valuable steps towards civic engagement.
Recently in Massachusetts, people in prison with the support of Emancipation Initiative took the courageous step of organizing an initiative petition to restore voting rights to citizens during their incarceration. When the state became the last to dissolve incarcerated citizens voting rights 20 years ago, it left Maine and Vermont to be the only states where every citizen (regardless of their incarceration status or conviction history) would be authorized to participate in their local and state elections that impact their lives. Massachusetts prisoners were unfortunately too short of signatures for the initiative to be adopted but their efforts informed the work of the Right2Vote Campaign in a way that continues to inspire organizers to make comparable moves.
While people in prison struggle to be heard by those elected officials that govern the prisons in which they suffer labor exploitation and inhumane conditions, there are ways that governing officials can ensure that incarcerated citizens are appropriately represented. With redistricting well underway in Michigan, it’s essential that prison gerrymandering exporting representation from those impoverished communities into other areas where prisons have been strategically built end in order to more justly and accurately constitute underrepresented communities. It’s also essential that people in prison (at the very least) be invited into the legislative process by allowing the opportunity to register vote. As a registered voter their voting rights would be considered “suspended” rather than restricted in those states where officials are more resistant. Allowing people in prison to register and the right to participate fully in the democratic process, connects them to society in a valuable way and gives them a place as a citizen of their society rather than a captive of society.
