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 Millions Without a VoicePosted on Feb 6, 2008By Amy Goodman As I raced into our TV studio for our Super Tuesday morning-after show, I was excited. Across the country, initial reports indicated there was unprecedented voter participation, at least in the Democratic primaries, several times higher than in previous elections. For years I have covered countries like Haiti, where people risk death to vote, while the U.S. has one of the lowest participation rates in the industrialized world. Could it be this year would be different? Then I bumped into a friend and asked if he had voted. “I can’t vote,” he said, “because I did time in prison.” I asked him if he would have voted. “Sure I would have. Because then I’m not just talking junk, I’m doing something about it.” Felony disenfranchisement is the practice by state governments of barring people convicted of a felony from voting, even after they have served their time. In Virginia and Kentucky, people convicted of any felony can never vote again (this would include “Scooter” Libby, even though he never went to jail, unless he is pardoned). Eight other states have permanent felony disenfranchisement laws, with some conditions that allow people to rejoin the voter rolls: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee and Wyoming. Disenfranchisement—people being denied their right to vote—takes many forms, and has a major impact on electoral politics. In Ohio in 2004, stories abounded of inoperative voting machines, too few ballots or too few voting machines. Then there was Florida in 2000. Many continue to believe that the election was thrown to George W. Bush by Ralph Nader, who got about 97,000 votes in Florida. Ten times that number of Floridians are prevented from voting at all. Why? Currently, more than 1.1 million Floridians have been convicted of a felony and thus aren’t allowed to vote. We can’t know for sure how they would have voted, but as scholar, lawyer and activist Angela Davis said recently in a speech honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Mobile, Ala., “If we had not had the felony disenfranchisement that we have, there would be no way that George Bush would be in the White House.” Since felony disenfranchisement disproportionately affects African-American and Latino men in the U.S., and since these groups overwhelmingly vote Democratic, the laws bolster the position of the Republican Party. The statistics are shocking. Ryan King, policy analyst with The Sentencing Project in Washington, D.C., summarized the latest: About 5.3 million U.S. citizens are ineligible to vote due to felony disenfranchisement; 2 million of them are African-American. Of these, 1.4 million are African-American men, which translates into an incredible 13 percent of that population, a rate seven times higher than in the overall population. Forty-eight states have some version of felony disenfranchisement on the books. All bar voting from prison, then go on to bar participation while on parole or probation. Two states, Maine and Vermont, allow prisoners to vote from behind the walls, as does Canada and a number of other countries. The politicians and pundits are all abuzz with the massive turnouts in the primaries and caucuses. There are increasing percentages of women participating, and initial reports point to more young people. The youth vote is particularly important, as young people have less invested in the status quo and can look with fresh eyes at long-standing injustices that disenfranchise so many. In this context, one of The Sentencing Project’s predictions bears repeating here: “Given current rates of incarceration, 3 in 10 of the next generation of black men can expect to be disenfranchised at some point in their lifetime. In states that disenfranchise ex-offenders, as many as 40 percent of black men may permanently lose their right to vote.” The Sentencing Project’s King said: “We are constantly pushing for legislative change around the country. But public education is absolutely key. There are so many different laws that people simply don’t know when their right to vote has been restored. That includes the personnel who work in state governments giving out the wrong information.” I called my friend to tell him he was misinformed. He hadn’t been on probation or parole for years. “You can vote,” I told him. “You just have to register.” I could hear him smile through the phone. Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on 650 stations in North America. © 2008 Amy Goodman Distributed by King Features Syndicate Previous item: The Legacy of Bush II Next item: Clinton's Pragmatic Appeal Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.
By rodney renfro, April 23 at 7:41 am # liberal feloni am a 60’s but grew up in the 70’s hippy values individual. the government quickly weeded me out of the political process, because of the drug laws. my grandpa was a bootlegger during prohibition, so when you drink your beer, remember the ones who went to prison, lost their land, for that right. I am free of prejudice, I am working class poor. please be carefull when you join the lynch mob screaming to hang the druggies. we just want to be free, have fun, and we work hard in this society. please leave us alone, we are the modern witches, in this modern inquisition. love peace…
By Adriel Chaney, February 23 at 1:21 pm # No Constitutional right to vote? Wrong, see the 15th amendment to the constitution; unless you think that amendment isn’t a part of the constitution or is unconstitutional on it’s face. No federal law affecting the right to vote? Wrong again, see the 1965 voting rights act. Unless you think the act isn’t federal and/or law. State’s rights; The justification of the confederate rebellion as well as the cause of the failure of reconstruction and the subsequent rise of Jim crow. State’s rights cannot be embraced by any people of good conscience especially those of African ancestry until all people’s rights and humanity are respected and protected by all states and under all circumstances. Adriel
By shapeshifter, February 15 at 6:15 am # After working with people presently incarcerated and with people on parole, it is striking how many had no alternatives to selling drugs. Why? Because working up to three dead-end jobs at minimum wage was not nearly enough to pay rent, pay utility bills, pay for childcare, provide food for oneself and one’s children and pay for transportation to and from work and daycare. Selling drugs often enables people, especially single mothers, to provide for their family in a way that working several minimum wage jobs never will. Unless wages are increased as are employment training and accessibility and job security, how will anyone afford the cost of living today and in the future? Also, the “food” in prison is not exactly food. It is high calorie starch in the form of slop that satiates. It took years and years of legislative work for the prison for women in Connecticut to offer real fruit, which is possibly the only nutritious option in prison (iceburg lettuce has nearly no nutritional value). Thus, the physical health of prisoners is significantly deteriorated, exacerbating their mental and emotional health problems. You are right, there is a lack of real rehab on the inside, increasing the rate of recidivism.
By Conservative Yankee, February 14 at 7:53 am # Maybe the US has more prisoners per capita because criminals in countries with a lower rate of incarceration, “Just Disappear” never making it to trial or to prison, and are never seen or heard from again. Or could it be that in the US we are granted greater freedom, the choice to either obey or disobey the law, while many other countries don’t garner this same freedom to their citizens. Case in point, crime was near zero in Iraq under Saddam Hussain’s rule, as was their election turnout. Denmark, Luxembourg, Sweden, England, France, Norway, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, Austria, Spain, Japan, Poland, Germany, and many other countries do not “disappear” their citizens. There are many “free” societies in the world, some even “freer than our own. The Netherlands comes to mind. No, it is in the USA where incarceration is a business subject to capitalist whims and nods that we incarcerate large numbers of folks for “crimes” against no one but themselves. There are some numbers which might interest on this subject. Nearly 20% of young (under 25)prison inmates spent part of their youth in foster care. this increases to 35% if all inmates are included. One in six U.S. prisoners is mentally ill. Nearly three quarters of new admissions to state prison were convicted of nonviolent crimes. The US taxpayers spent over 200 Billion dollars in 2005 on our justice system from court, through imprisonment. This does not include police or local enforcement. Most (55%) prisoners re offend after their first stay in prison. It would seem to me we have two options. 1.) when we imprison someone, do not ever let them out. It would seem to me that given our ever increasing incarceration rate we are doing something wrong. Obviously, trying children as young as 10 in adult court is not working. I’m not closed minded on this, I would be willing to listen to other ideas?
By Jenny, February 13 at 2:48 pm # Where is the logic?Where is the logic in taking away a felon’s voting right? I pawed through many many comments here, and maybe I missed it, but WHERE is the logic in this law? I think treason is a good reason for it, but who is afraid that ex-addicts are going to somehow takeover the country or the like? I don’t understand it. My brother fell victim to addiction and is in prison for drugs and drug-related charges, but he is not necessarily insane, illogical or incapable of voting. PS: I also don’t think there’s any real rehab on the inside. It’s just food, housing and survival of the streetwise.
By Debra, February 13 at 8:44 am # Re: Hiding in plain siteWe all need to open our eyes even more to whats happening in these United States as well as around the world. The powers that be do not want peace, they do not want us to come together, they want us as divided as possible to keep us from figuring out the truth behind the Military industrial complex/New World Order. Why else would we have a two-party system? To keep us divided. These people are ruthless and would stop at nothing to destroy us. The poor and needy to them is nothing more than the waste on the bottom of their shoes, and everything they do in secret point to our destruction. Just take everything, like puzzle pieces and put it together and look at the BIG picture. This is why people is not figuring this stuff out, it’s too horrible to conceive, and yet it is true. This is one of the reasons why nothing get done for the greater good and why they are sooooo contrary to everything suggested. IT IS ALL DELIBRATE, ALL OF IT. WAKE UP MY PEOPLE. They are not hiding it, you just have to be open to look and believe.
By Paul F, February 13 at 2:38 am # Do we really want to give the power of deciding national direction through the polling place to those who have proven a serious inability to make decisions? If someone cannot understand the consequences of their actions to the point that they are put behind bars for major crimes committed while free members of society ~ I for one have very strong reservations with regard to giving them the power to influence my life and the lives of society as a whole. It’s obvious that prison is not about reform, so what would they have done to prove that their ways have changed?
By Joe Alt, February 9 at 7:44 am # Criminals Run The CountryLet me get this straight: It’s o.k. for a crook to run the country but a ex con can’t even vote? Sounds pretty Nixonian to me.
By Margo Smith, February 8 at 9:38 am # THE “DOUBLE BUBBLE” SCOOP On Monday morning, 24 hours before polls opened, we sent a letter from Unfortunately, on Election Day, polling places across Los Angeles We need to protect voter rights, increase voter confidence in our THE PETITION THE STORIES
By .zan, February 8 at 8:47 am # . If we stop for a while and look what is there in any issue, what do we see? The primary misconception or unquestioned belief is that most people take for granted their separation from others. Of course there is separation, and this is enforced by so many things, separate physical bodies, minds and so on. Of course if we look very closely, even scientifically we see that we are dependent, even co-dependant on one another in such radical and fundamental ways that are not acknowledged in our separative, territorial and warfare behavior. Rather than try to convince others (though mild, just more agression) on a conceptual and rhetorical level, how do you think we can be more aware of and look closer at this ignored and fundamental situation, a belief in our separateness, that to some of us is the obvious issue? Questions are not weapons. .zan .
By asIseeit, February 8 at 4:01 am # the non right to voteVoting should not be considered a privilege in some states, but a right in others. I am a convicted felon for a nonviolent and victimless crime in the State of Delaware. In some staes my crime was considered a misdemeanor. My voting rights were take away before my conviction and sentencing. 10 miles west of where I live, in Md., voting rights were restored for all felons imediately upon serving their sentence. I was never imprisoned but have completed my probation and sentence. I continue to pay my taxes but have no say in the government of my stae or America, but if I lived 10 miles west of here I would. Is that democracy? NO!!! I honorably served my country during the Vietnam war and have paid my taxes for 43 straight years, but does that count for anything? NO! I made one stupid mistake and now cannot vote, am stigmatized as a felon and all that it entails. Society wants me to be law abiding productive member, but will continue to put up roadblocks after I’ve repaid my debt. I can accept some of the stupidity of my situation, but I cannot accept the loss of the RIGHT to vote!!!!!!!!!
By BradM, February 7 at 11:06 pm # 1. Maybe the US has more prisoners per capita because criminals in countries with a lower rate of incarceration, “Just Disappear” never making it to trial or to prison, and are never seen or heard from again. Or could it be that in the US we are granted greater freedom, the choice to either obey or disobey the law, while many other countries don’t garner this same freedom to their citizens. Case in point, crime was near zero in Iraq under Saddam Hussain’s rule, as was their election turnout. 2. Surely, Lawrence, MA gives their voters the option of submitting an absentee or mail-in ballot when unable to vote in person on election day. Not being able to vote should never be an issue. This sounds more like an excuse for not being responsible; it is much easier to blame others than to be in-charge of our own destiny. Transportation should not be an issue. Besides, there are generally many precincts within a city, often only a matter of a few block from any voter. As a last resort, either take a bus, call a cab or family and friends. 3. Of greater importance is how a large number of disenfranchised voters in Alameda Co., CA were denied their right to vote on Tuesday. These long-time registered Republican voters were somehow switched (by a “glitch” in the Registrars Office) to either a Democrat or an Independent, and they were not allowed to cast their vote for a Republican candidate in the closed primary.
By WHAT!!!, February 7 at 6:37 pm # Re: Response to "Outraged" posted February 7 atYou certainly are no lawyer. Considering that Amendment XV was added in 1870, the phrase “previous condition of servitude” was in reference to former slaves or indentured servants. People in jail are neither… A civilized democratic society is based upon both freedom and self-restraint. To enjoy the freedoms of the society one must practice self-restraint. Only when an individual obeys the laws of the land is he entitled to the participate in its government. Of course, a just society does not arbitrarily limit freedom, but commision of crimes serious to be considered felonies is probably a good indication that the person does not deserve the right to participate in the democratic process…
By deh, February 13 at 1:51 pm # Re: Re: Response to "Outraged" posted February 7I used to think disenfranchisement was appropriate for the reasons you state. Until I realized that 1) people are being permanently, as in for life, disenfranchised for crimes for which they are not serving life sentences 2) a disproproportionate number of convicted felons are people of color and this is NOT because a disproportionate number of people of color are irresponsible citizens; it’s because more of them belong to a class (at the lower end of the socio-economic scale) that doesn’t get good legal representation and, as the recent situation in Jena, Louisiana, made clear, there is a lot of inequity in the way laws are applied to different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups in some places. Until we address the inequities in our justice system, disenfranchisement of convicted felons is just another form of disenfranchisement of people of color. And, as we saw with the 2000 election, the practice can be used to manipulate the outcome of an election by deliberately (even if sometimes erroneously) disenfranchising certain groups of voters. 3) our insane drug laws allow people to be convicted as felons for attempting to use what would, without those laws, be just another herb (would you rather pay $100 a pill--or more--for something to help with chemo- or AIDS-induced nausea, do without because you can’t afford it, or grow your own herb at a fraction of the cost?) 4) our insane drug laws allow relatively innocent, if naive and/or unintelligent, people caught up in drug sweeps (people whose significant others are involved in the drug trade, people whose relatives are involved, etc.) to be convicted as felons because they don’t know enough to trade with the DA, while the worse players get off simply because they have more information to trade. So the more irresponsible citizens still get to vote and the somewhat innocent bystanders don’t. 5) in a country with such a low voter turnout rate, we can use all the citizens who care enough to vote. If they want to vote let them. The irresponsible ones will weed themselves out. deh
By Michael Regan, February 8 at 12:04 pm # Re: Re: Response to "Outraged" posted February 7I agree 100%. To participate in society you have to play by the rules of the land. If you can’t follow that then you shouldn’t be allowed to have a say…
By librochi5, February 7 at 1:27 pm # You forgetdriving bear, however admirable your voice is, you forget that there are still wrongly convicted people who suffer from losing their voting rights. Not only that, but there are convicted felons who have left the system and not been re-arrested or re-convicted. Do those people deserve to lose their voices as well? I think not. Think about how you would feel if you were a 20 year old kid with a felony conviction and you were not allowed to vote. Everyone makes mistakes, they are “punished” for them, but losing your right to vote, especially when statistics show insurmountable biases against African-American and Latino populations, is too large a price to pay.
By .zan, February 7 at 12:26 pm # . Far from even voting or knowing about their rights when they get out, these places of incarceration are not good for basic sanity. This is a slow form of torture. Having gone into Federal (MN) and State (MI) prisons for a number of years as a volunteer (I teach meditation)it is obvious to me that they generally don’t care about rehabilitating anyone. I unless you have someone on the inside, a chaplain or another admin person you wont even get in. It always takes several months (8-9) of persistent effort, writing, phoning and now emailing just to get in. Then you have to deal with the regulations an sometimes (not always) unfriendly, disrespectful treatment by the guards or staff. It is a difficult situation and it is disheartening to see these men who maybe made some bad mistakes, just decay in a system that stores living beings in cement and steel boxes for decades and decades until they die or max out. I just try to help them get a little sanity in an insane system. .zan
By Phillip Bannowsky, February 7 at 10:11 am # As a result of a 20-year struggle and the collaboration of 40 organizations including Common Cause, Delaware Pacem in Terris, and the Delaware A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Delaware State Constitution was amended in 2000 to permit most ex-felons to vote. Permanantly barred are homicides, sex offenders, and persons guilty of public malfeasance, and there is a waiting period of 5 years after completion of sentence. I was chair of this coalition. A new amendment is now working through the state legislature to eliminate the waiting period.
By Conservative Yankee, February 7 at 7:07 am # i,Q, February 6 at 11:13 pm In fact, The United States has the highest prison Additionally, The US dose not count juveniles under 18, who are serving their time in juvenile facilities. By driving bear, February 6 at 6:45 pm I would agree, EXCEPT there is a disparity in the “class” of crime. While holding a single hit of farmertx, February 6 at 6:45 pm I agree, this is the worst slate of candidates I have seen in my lifetime (both parties) and once again it appears we will have a self-serving corporate whore, beholding to a number of contributors rather than to voters.... BUT that is our fault!! We should be ashamed to live on our grandparents fight, and I’m not talking about foreign wars, I’m speaking about Bread and Roses (Lawrence MA) Harlan County, and Scranton PA. They fought and died so we could have a weekend off, and a safer workplace. We’ve gotten fat and lazy, and we’re now going to pay for that lapse Maybe this time we’ll learn… I doubt it! By ocjim, February 6 at 8:15 pm # Disenfranchisement is Common Man are you on target, and when we make it a racial issue or a gender issue it gets worse. In Lawrence Mass The polling places were inaccessible to folks by mass transit. Folks without a car had to walk as much as 2 miles, or take a cab. because this was a poor city, people just didn’t bother. There are still places where the polls are closed before the second shift ends. To be truly democratic polls should be open at least 24 hours. By JohnD, February 6 at 9:23 pm # “The vote would seem a natural part of rejoining society ...” Maybe, if the goal was “correction” rather than punishment. Given the choice, US citizens would rather punish than correct.
By mddemocracy, February 7 at 5:46 am # As someone who led a coalition that changed Maryland’s draconian felon disenfranchisement laws in 2007, I applaud anyone who understands that the real issue is about democracy and fairness. And as someone who became the first former felon to register to vote under Maryland’s new law, when I vote next Tuesday, I will vote because it is my right to do so.
By drw3344, February 7 at 4:39 am # We have several different grass roots organizing projects each Presidential cycle. I think we should add this issue. In some states ex felons have the right to vote and they either do not know it or do not know how the procedure works to get re-enfranchised. For example, in Florida in 2000 the Fla Supreme Court ordered Jeb Bush to stop putting out false information-that a felon had to receive specific permission to vote from the governor’s office-and he refused to do so. Let’s get organized nationally, state by state and help these people vote.
By naghma, February 11 at 12:49 pm # Re: another cry baby storyOnce you have done your time, you should have the right to vote. There is nothing “soft on crime” about that. Permanent disenfranchisement of any group does not further democracy. Add Your Comment |
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