More than 5 million U.S. citizens are unable to vote in elections because of felony convictions.
In countries such as Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Peru and South Africa, incarcerated people retain the right to vote. Other parts of Europe only disenfranchise people based on the length of their sentence or their type of crime. Germany, for instance, uses disenfranchisement as a punishment for crimes against the state or tampering with elections.
In fact, the U.S. is one of just a handful of countries that restricts voting after someone has completed their sentences.
In the past 20 years, some states have made it easier for people with felony convictions to vote. For example, Minnesota and New Mexico now let people vote after they leave prison and are finishing their sentences in the community. Some states, like Oregon and California, are considering letting people currently in prison vote. Right now, only Maine, Vermont and Washington D.C. allow voting during a prison sentence.
The right to vote is also limited in jails, where over 650,000 people are held each day. Some places, like Cook County, Illinois, and the state of Colorado, are trying to decrease barriers to voting from jail. Many of these people are awaiting trial and have not been convicted of a crime, and therefore retain their right to vote.
In stories and poems, Prison Journalism Project writers have expressed their thoughts on our democracy and their ability to participate in it. Others have written about mock elections facilitated within their facilities or reported on election outcomes from behind bars. We have collected a series of stories about this sacred democratic right, and what it means to people behind bars.
“Please Let Me Vote” by Salvadore Solorio: “I thought being incarcerated and losing my job, my home, my children’s birthdays, graduations and marriages for 28 years was my punishment. I thought the goal of releasing me back into society was to encourage me to restart my life — to get a job, rebuild my family, participate in my community, and be counted … to vote.”
“My Plea for You to Please Go Vote” by Reginald Stephen: “America is my home. I want the best for America though I fear she does not always feel the same about me.”
“San Quentin’s Mock Presidential Elections” by Kevin D. Sawyer: “Incarcerated people at San Quentin State Prison still have a voice even though it’s not heard by the Electoral College.”
“We Can Do Better” by Delbert Williams: “Our democracy is great precisely because it strives to be inclusive.”
“Watching the Election from Prison Amid a Pandemic” by Reginald Stephen: “Here at Sing Sing, in A Block, the men erupted into cheers and applause over the Biden/Harris win. None of us voted; we can’t vote. We are legally disenfranchised. Most of us feel like we had a stake in the race nevertheless.”
“V.O.T.E.” by Lorenzo Michael Hall Jr.: In this poem, Hall writes, “To those who have an ear let them hear: / a VOICE. Of. TOTAL. EMPOWERMENT!”
“All Eyes on the Election: Dispatch from San Quentin” by Christopher Etienne and Joe Garcia: “‘Too many of us may never see freedom ever,’ Joe said. ‘That’s our worst nightmare.’”