Without changing existing power relationships, restoring voting rights for people in prison is meaningless.
Voting Wrongs
In name, the United States is a democracy, but in practice, many millions of people are disenfranchised — whether because of felony convictions, undocumented status, onerous state and local voting restrictions, or other structural barriers. Partisan, racist gerrymandering manipulates districts, stifling the voting power of whole communities. Meanwhile, archaic mechanisms like the Electoral College prevent the votes of all people from being truly counted. Fortunately, activists around the country are working hard to gain the ballot — and make it count — for everyone in this country. A critical election looms in 2020. At this historic moment, Truthout begins a new series, “Voting Wrongs,” to expose the injustices that disenfranchise vast numbers of people — and the bold efforts that seek to transform the way the United States does “democracy.”
The United States continues to deprive many people of this basic civic tool.
Fines related to jail sentences make the right to vote unaffordable for millions of formerly incarcerated people.
Shutting out parolees from the two most basic civic institutions, the jury and the ballot, threatens democracy.
The GOP’s vicious immigration policies seek to entrench white political power for generations.
Momentum is growing among state legislatures to award electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote.