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“WE THE PEOPLE” INCLUDES WE THE INCARCERATED  
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Kwaneta Harris
October 18, 2024
Yes Magazine
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_ Since the end of the Civil War, the United States has found ways to
disenfranchise Black voters. It started with literacy tests and poll
taxes and threats of racist violence. Now, it’s through voter
suppression laws and mass incarceration.  _

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That the United States incarcerates people at a higher rate than most
countries in the world is, by now, a truism.

But that’s not the only way in which the country is an outlier. The
vast majority of people locked up in prisons throughout America cannot
vote. In many democratic nations, including Canada and most of the
European Union, voting rights for incarcerated citizens are not
revoked
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Imprisonment itself is seen as sufficient punishment. 

The exclusion does not stop at the prison walls. There are over 2
million other Americans who have served their time but remain barred
from voting because of a felony conviction. 

In total, 4.6 million people are locked out of the democratic process
in the United States. Nearly half of them are Black and Latino
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That’s a fundamental flaw in this experiment called democracy. 

Restoring our right to vote would make society safer. It would give
incarcerated people a means of pushing back against a system that
controls our lives. And it would help America realize a truer, more
inclusive version of itself. 

People in this country have a long history of fearing the other. I
wonder what people might fear about currently and formerly
incarcerated people voting? Is it that we might vote against the
interests of fellow Americans? 

Maybe some of us would vote in humane policymakers who mandate air
conditioning in prisons
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or who challenge forced prison labor
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picking cotton, the major cash crop of U.S. slavery. Others might mark
their ballots for lawmakers committed to creating more green spaces
and reducing food deserts in under-resourced communities.

Or maybe that wouldn’t happen. We are not a monolithic,
single-issue voting bloc
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In fact, inside I have noticed that it’s the working class, across
all demographics, who overwhelmingly support Donald Trump. Those with
more formal education tend to support Kamala Harris.  

We probably care a lot about what you care about. We want our kids to
grow up healthy and safe. We want fair politicians reelected and
corrupt ones voted out. We want to fund and strengthen our
communities, but not waste money.

For me? I would throw my support behind school board members who would
allow my daughter to read _The Bluest Eye_ by Toni Morrison, one of
Texas’ most frequently banned books. I would advocate for safe and
clean drinking water in rural towns, where prisons are often located.
And I would rally behind leaders who protect a broad range of
reproductive rights because I don’t believe my daughters should have
fewer reproductive rights than their grandmother. 

Meanwhile, by letting us have a say in politics, you are helping us
become reinvested in our communities, where most of us will someday
return
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The Sentencing Project released a report
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year that argued restoring voting rights for people with felony
convictions can improve public safety. The right to vote and the act
of voting are linked to reduced recidivism
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have been involved with the criminal legal system, according to the
report. 

Instead of getting involved in our communities, we’re forced to sit
on the sidelines and let the state do with us what it pleases.

A few years ago, Texas began digitizing all incoming mail
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was able to hold letters from my loved ones. I remember tracing the
pink crayon-heart indentations of my daughter’s script, and taking
in the signature scent of my mother’s perfume, which she sprayed on
the page. Now, that simple but profound moment of physical connection
is gone, and I can’t do anything about it.

Larger, attacks on our rights and dignity are also occurring while we
cry out into the abyss, hoping someone will hear us. Failed forms
of three-strikes laws
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extend sentences for convictions, no matter how old. Marijuana
possession is still criminalized in many states, including Texas, a
fact responsible for countless ruined lives. And elderly folks with
dementia
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who in some cases can’t even recall their convictions, are routinely
denied compassionate release. Shouldn’t those of us most impacted by
these policies have an opportunity to influence them?

Some people think “no.” Supporters of felony disenfranchisement
laws tend to argue that incarcerated people gave up their privilege to
vote when they chose to break the law. But this view ignores the fact
that our legal system treats the poor differently than the rich. 

Consider the financial crisis of 2008. None of its bank CEO
architects, who ruined millions of lives and cost the country an
estimated $23 trillion, went to jail or prison. Same for members of
the infamous Sackler family, whose company Purdue Pharma created
Oxycontin and marketed the fatally addictive drug under false
pretenses, leading to hundreds of thousands of deaths nationwide.
Neither the bank CEOs nor the Sacklers lost their privilege to vote,
despite breaking the law. 

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who was found guilty on 34
felony counts earlier this year, continues his run for re-election to
the highest office in the land.

But my neighbors incarcerated for bouncing grocery checks at Walmart
are left without the right to have a voice in our government? 

More than anything, restoring our right to vote would honor the spirit
of our democracy. It would signal to everyone inside and out that all
voices matter, no matter what.

That would be a novel but no less essential development in the history
of America. Since the end of the Civil War, the United States has
found ways to disenfranchise Black voters. It started with literacy
tests and poll taxes and threats of racist violence. Now, it’s
through voter suppression laws
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mass incarceration. 

“We the People” includes we the incarcerated. It’s long past
time to allow all voting-age Americans the freedom to vote.

_Kwaneta Harris, Prison Journalism Project, is a writer incarcerated
in Texas._

_YES! Media is a nonprofit, independent publisher of solutions
journalism.  Through rigorous reporting on the positive ways
communities are responding to social problems and insightful
commentary that sparks constructive discourse, YES! Media inspires
people to build a more just, sustainable, and compassionate world._

_This story was originally published
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Prison Journalism Project in partnership with Reckon News
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the people powering change, the challenges shaping our time, and what
it means for all of us. The story is part of Locked Out
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a special series from PJP about voting, politics and democracy behind
bars._

* Mass Incarceration
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* voter suppression
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* voting rights
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