Last Updated on March 4, 2023 by BVN
Prince James Story |
A group of California assembly members is championing a constitutional amendment that would restore voting rights and end the disenfranchisement of system-impacted individuals still in custody across the state.
“Many people who are incarcerated have never participated in democracy before because they didn’t feel represented or included in our civic institutions before, and so that disconnection between not voting and ending up incarcerated can be turned to the inverse,” Assembly Member Isaac Bryan, the bill’s author, said. “If we allow folks who are incarcerated to vote, it’ll build a healthier, more engaged society, and it will decrease the likelihood of people going back to incarceration.”
Executive Director of Initiate Justice, Antoinette Ratcliffe is another person who has been working hard to get this piece of legislation passed.
Initiate Justice and the Free the Vote Coalition co-sponsored ACA 6, which became the proposition to restore voting rights to people on parole.
“Upon passing Proposition 17, we also acknowledged that continuing to restrict access to our democracy to even those who are currently incarcerated was unfair and disproportionately impacted our Black, Brown, and poor communities,” Ratcliffe said.
Ending disenfranchisement
California is looking to become the third state in the nation to allow those incarcerated to vote. Maine and Massachusetts are the only states that practice this.
Canada, Zimbabwe, Israel, and Norway are some countries that have ended the practice of disenfranchising incarcerated individuals around the world.
If this amendment is passed, this issue will go on the ballot, and ultimately, the people of California will make the final decision.
“In general, most of my colleagues, and most of the people in California believe that democracy should include everybody and that every citizen of our country and citizen of the state of California should have a voice in that democracy,” Bryan said. “Ultimately, that’s what will prevail.”
When the bill becomes law
If this new legislation becomes law, there will be two options for those incarcerated to place their ballot.
Some of them could place their ballot in person, and others could turn in their votes through the mail.
In 2020, the Century Regional Detention Facility (CRDF) in Los Angeles opened a polling station and allowed those eligible to vote in person.
Those considered eligible to vote in prison must be awaiting trial or be on trial, in prison for a misdemeanor conviction, for a probation violation, or serving a county jail sentence under Assembly Bill 109, the California Public Safety Realignment Act, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
According to a press release by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, there were 2,200 women registered to vote, and 35 inmates voted in person.
In 2021, California ended “Prison Gerrymandering.” It now allows prisoners to cast their vote for the district of their latest home addresses. In previous years, their votes were counted for the districts where they were incarcerated.
This would prevent prison gerrymandering and allow prisoners to vote in the community where they live and not where they are being held.
“We already know that our criminal justice system in its current form, the form that again relies on punishment and isolation, isn’t working. Then how do we reimagine our communities to behold and save by focusing more on restorative, transformative justice and our approaches to harm,” Ratcliffe questioned.
Rahsaan “New York” Thomas is a formerly incarcerated individual who served 22 years in prison and is co-founder of the Empowerment Avenue Writer’s Cohort and the co-producer of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated podcast “Ear Hustle.”
The Cohort pairs incarcerated individuals with volunteer journalists and editors to help get their articles published.
Thomas said he published close to 50 articles while in prison. He said about 30 incarcerated individuals are part of the cohort, and they have published around 200 pieces.
Thomas started writing in prison, and it wasn’t until he was transferred to San Quentin prison that they allowed him to grow and hone his writing skills.
He was transferred to San Quentin prison after being held in maximum security prisons for 13 years. At San Quentin, he was introduced to a new world of opportunities. He enrolled in a creative writing class, worked with the prison newspaper, and earned an associate’s degree.
Thomas expressed that having the ability to vote will help incarcerated and formerly incarcerated to a smoother transition into society.
“The laws affect everybody. So everybody should have a voice,” Thomas said. “It’s crazy to see people in jail because some law was voted in, and they had no voice, no input, and yet they suffer from it.”
He believes that when you feel like your voice matters and your life matters, you act pro-social, and when you feel like your voice doesn’t matter, you maneuver in an antisocial manner.
“They’ve been disconnected from the system for so long, they’ve been voiceless for so long, they don’t believe their vote makes a difference,” Thomas said. “But the vast majority of people I talked to definitely want to be able to vote and want to be included in society. Democracy needs everybody. If it ain’t everybody, then it’s not democracy.”