Released From Prison, But Denied Your Voting Rights

In 2002, the Senate considered a measure that would have expanded suffrage to all ex-felons, at least for federal elections. Some familiar faces opposed the bill: Senator Mitch McConnell, now the majority leader, said, “We are talking about rapists, murderers, and even terrorists or spies,” not mentioning that the majority of people who would be affected by expanding felon voting rights have not committed these types of crimes. Senator Jeff Sessions, now the attorney general, said that “each state has different standards based on their moral evaluation, their legal evaluation, their public interest,” refusing to acknowledge the history of measures to take away the vote. As Hiser notes, deciding that it’s necessary to only let citizens who are “good” or “moral” enough take part in democracy is a slippery slope, and an immense power liable to abuse.

BALTIMORE, MD-MAR 10: (left with fist in the air, wearing hat) Gerald Dent, who served 41 years in prison joined (center, with sign) James Featherstone (he served 35 years in prison) and (R) Niles Ringgold (Ringgold served 40 years in prison) at the rally for felon voting rights. They chanted, “We want to vote, we want to vote.” Communities United and other rights groups rallied at the Baltimore City Board of Election today with several former felons and supporters to celebrate the first day of voter registration for people on probation or parole. More than 40,000 Marylanders are newly eligible to vote today, with more than half of those potential new voters living in Baltimore City. (Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

But fighting back against felon disenfranchisement laws is only one facet of this voting rights battle. “Eligibility to register is really the first step toward someone with a prior conviction getting to the ballot,” says Ebenstein. “There are also then all the other barriers that everyone else faces.”

State governments are bad at making sure residents know everything they need in order to understand current election law before voting. For example, Hiser thought that all ex-offenders got their voting rights back after five years. “When you’re in jail,” he says, “you aren’t thinking about voting rights.” Many Americans might believe the opposite. “I was just watching a TV show,” says Nicole Porter at The Sentencing Project, “and it assumed that anyone with a felony conviction can’t vote. That is a part of the common narrative. People have been working for years to counter that.” Election officials aren’t often up to speed on law changes either, further confusing voters. In Baltimore County last year, some released felons received letters saying that they weren’t eligible to vote, weeks after their rights were officially restored.

In Alabama, the newly enfranchised will have to deal with getting voter IDs. Glasgow already has a plan to deal with that hurdle before the 2018 midterms.

“I consider myself Moses,” he says. “I want to campaign now, ‘Let my people vote.’” And voter IDs? “[The formerly incarcerated] are identified better than regular citizens. Why? Because you fingerprinted us to lock us up. So we can use our jail and prison IDs. And if the government says we can’t use that, and it’s a federal or state or local municipality-issued ID, I’m going to have a ball suing everybody involved. And you can quote that.”

All the organizers recognize this is a long-term fight. “I’m a 47-year-old Caucasian male,” Hiser says, “and I’ve had enough of old, fat, white guys. The table is crowded with people not affected by their decisions. We should be there, we have insight. I have 25 years of research as a criminal.” And, he adds, “I’ll keep fighting until change comes. And if it doesn’t come in my lifetime, my kids will fight for it. And I hope everyone else does too.”

Article Appeared @http://www.mtv.com/news/3018978/released-from-prison-but-denied-your-voting-rights/