[Unlike many people incarcerated in state and federal prisons
legally ineligible to vote, moat in local jails -- detained pretrial
or held on misdemeanor charges -- are legally eligible to vote, but
are unable to do so,] [[link removed]]

JAILED VOTERS CAN SWING ELECTIONS IF THEY KNOW AND CAN EXERCISE THEIR
RIGHTS  
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Tamar Sarai Davis
October 14, 2020
Prism
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_ Unlike many people incarcerated in state and federal prisons
legally ineligible to vote, moat in local jails -- detained pretrial
or held on misdemeanor charges -- are legally eligible to vote, but
are unable to do so, _

,

 

A new report released
[[link removed]] by the Prison
Policy Initiative outlines a different kind of voter suppression than
has typically made headlines this election season: the de facto
disenfranchisement of people incarcerated in local jails. According to
PPI, an overwhelming majority of the 746,000 people detained in U.S.
jails at any given day are legally eligible to vote but are often
barred from casting their ballots due to structural obstacles and
misinformation.

As opposed to the felony disenfranchisement that renders many people
incarcerated in state and federal prisons legally ineligible to vote,
those in local jails have largely retained their right to vote because
a majority of them—nearly 75%—are being detained pretrial and thus
have not been convicted of any charges. Further, people in jail who
have been convicted are typically only serving sentences on
misdemeanor charges. In all but seven states, these low-level
offenses do not pose a barrier to one’s voting eligibility.  

While conversations about disenfranchisement often reach the national
stage every four years when the country is engaged in the presidential
election, it is local races that will perhaps be most impacted by
people in jail gaining full and easier access to the voting process.
This is particularly true in places like Los Angeles, California, or
Cook County, Illinois, where the daily populations of their local
jails hover around 20,000 and 10,000, respectively. In key races such
as those for district attorney, sheriffs, or city council members,
better in-jail voting processes could help swing the results.

Although people detained in local jails mostly retain their right to
vote, actually casting their ballots and having those votes counted is
not easy. For many—particularly first time voters or young
people—just registering to vote inside can be a challenge. For
instance, some states have strict laws requiring registrants to
present an ID—an item that is typically confiscated upon arrest.
Further, restricted access to the internet can prevent people from
accessing online forms that are needed for registration. Even if
people can access and complete the forms, jail paper mail systems
are notoriously slow
[[link removed]],
meaning registration offices may not receive the forms by the
necessary deadlines. Those concerns have been amplified this year as
USPS delays have slowed delivery speeds for all mail, including
registration forms and absentee ballots.

For those inside who are able to successfully register or who were
previously registered prior to their arrest, casting their ballots is
yet another hurdle. In many of the states that require voters to
supply an excuse for requesting an absentee ballot, detention in jail
is not on the narrow list of acceptable justifications. Additionally,
jail staff can open and review jail mail, meaning that even those who
are able to cast absentee ballots may have the secrecy of their vote
compromised. This is particularly important in smaller local
elections, especially sheriff's races since sheriffs themselves manage
the local jails where these voters are detained.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle of all, however, is ensuring that people
in jail understand that they still have the right to vote despite
their incarceration. Misinformation about whether they have lost their
right to vote keeps many from trying to vote in the first place, and
voters must also contend with a lack of information about how to
register, how to mail in absentee ballots, and what candidates are on
the ballot that might advocate for their needs.

Local volunteers have often stepped in to fill in the gaps, but this
year, safety precautions related to COVID-19 have barred volunteers
from visiting jails in some areas and assisting potential voters
on-site. Middleton Jail in Essex County, Massachusetts, for instance,
is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak
[[link removed]] which
has caused the facility to no longer allow volunteers to access the
jail.

That particular barrier underscores how “undemocratic it is to have
a system that relies upon volunteers,” said Kristina Mensik,
assistant director at Common Cause Massachusetts. Mensik, along with
elly kalfus, an organizer with Emancipation Initiative, is co-leader
of the Election Protection Behind Bars Coalition
[[link removed]]. The coalition, which
formed just this summer, works to push elected officials to establish
guidelines for voting inside jails and coordinates with local sheriffs
to implement ballot access programs. In Massachusetts, where Mensik
and kalfus work, anywhere between 8,000 and 10,000 incarcerated
individuals retain their right to vote but experience de facto
disenfranchisement.

Mensik and kalfus note that because there is no statewide system
across Massachusetts’ 14 counties for helping incarcerated people
vote, there is a large degree of misinformation and a lack of access
to basic voting materials like candidate voter guides or information
on how to secure absentee ballots. Although volunteers have stepped in
to help, the coalition is pushing for sheriffs and legislators to
develop systems that can ensure safe and easy access to the ballot for
incarcerated people. The group has based its strategy and its goals
around a 2019 report released by Ballots Over Bars, a team within the
Emancipation Initiative that spoke with sheriffs throughout the 2018
election and gathered information on what barriers were keeping
incarcerated people from voting.

The coalition's work now seeks to “shift the burden onto sheriffs
and not individual people for providing ballot materials,” said
Mensik. The coalition is also advocating on the municipal level for
elected officials to better understand that a sizable portion of the
incarcerated population is eligible to vote. This lack of
understanding among election clerks, for example, has resulted in
rejected absentee ballots.

“A lot of people don't know there are two categories: incarcerated
people that can vote and those that cannot,” said kalfus.

As GOTV initiatives have stressed, registering and casting your ballot
is particularly important this year as the country grapples with
sustained uprisings against police violence along with a deadly
pandemic that in many states shows no signs of slowing down. In this
moment, when an incredibly important and increasingly complicated
election is colliding with a nationwide call for defunding and even
abolishing policing and prisons, organizers with Election Protection
Behind Bars are hopeful that more people will join the conversation
and recognize the relationship between democracy and incarceration.

There have even been recent movements towards change. On Oct. 6,
William Galvin, secretary of the Commonwealth, responded to a letter
sent by the coalition and other Massachusetts based advocacy groups
that asked the secretary to “systematize and secure access to the
ballot for those who maintain their right to vote while held in state
custody.”

Galvin sent out an advisory which provides information about which
incarcerated people are eligible to vote, where their residency is,
and how to go about registering. He also clarified for election
officials that incarcerated voters are specially qualified for
absentee ballots. kalfus says this is the first time the secretary of
the Commonwealth has spoken directly to incarcerated voters in 20
years.

For people interested in getting involved as the November election
quickly approaches, Election Protection Behind Bars says that writing
letters to the editor urging legislators to address this problem and
provide resources for in-jail voters is an incredibly important step.
Just educating oneself about how this generally underserved population
is yet again stripped of their rights and making their experiences
visible by telling friends, family and colleagues is also, as always,
key to inching towards change.

_Tamar Sarai Davis is the criminal justice staff reporter at Prism.
Follow her on Twitter @therealtamar._
 

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