Dear ACLU Supporter,

Across the country, mass incarceration locks millions of Americans behind bars and out of the voting booth. In California, the state constitution unjustly strips our friends, neighbors, co-workers, and loved ones of the right to vote if they’re serving a prison sentence or are on parole.

Voting is a fundamental right. Banning formerly-incarcerated people from voting undermines our democracy and disproportionately suppresses black and brown voices.

California state lawmakers are currently considering a measure that, if approved, would give Californians the power in November 2020 to restore the right to vote to people on parole. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 6: The Free the Vote Act will re-enfranchise nearly 50,000 people who should be represented in our democracy but are barred from doing so because they are on parole.

Ask your state senator to vote YES on the Free the Vote Act. Together, we can put an end to decades of voter disenfranchisement that unjustly silences the voices of those on parole and disproportionately affects people of color.

Sincerely,

Abdi Soltani
Executive Director, ACLU of Northern California