We Need Voting Rights Restored for the Incarcerated | Opinion

No one ever thinks it's going to be them. Losing the freedom to vote just seems unfathomable. Trust me, it's not.

In 2008, I was attending college in Massachusetts and discovered the dangers of mixing alcohol and bad decisions. By the end of the year, I had been arrested. I was incarcerated as a result of my actions, and I found out firsthand what it meant to have the freedom to vote taken away.

I can't begin to describe the experience. It doesn't matter who you are—prison and jail are horrific. It's no secret the system is broken—especially with no way to change it without the ability to vote in prison.

After I was released, I achieved my dream of becoming a criminal defense attorney, but even that came with challenges. I had to see friends I left behind in prison without a say in their communities because of felony disenfranchisement. Eventually, I started working with the Oregon Justice Resource Center (OJRC) to promote civil rights, improve legal representation for marginalized communities, and fight for voting rights restoration. I wanted to fight for the 12,000 people who are unable to vote due to discriminatory felony disenfranchisement laws in Oregon.

Across the country, nearly 5 million Americans have been disenfranchised by state laws that prevent people with felony convictions from voting. Depending on the state, people may be denied the right to vote only while in prison, while on parole or probation, or for some, all of their life after they are released.

Only Maine, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico allow currently incarcerated people to vote. Even more people are disenfranchised because of confusion around eligibility laws which vary by state and often are misinterpreted even by government officials. At the same time, voter intimidation is growing in America.

Our team has worked tirelessly to push legislation to restore voting rights for all people in Oregon and become the first state to re-enfranchise its citizens—since Maine and Vermont never took the right away. However, a group of Oregon Republicans decided to walk out on their constituents over other critical issues like gun safety, gender-affirming care, and climate change. Without the government mandated number of representatives needed to vote on bills, the rest of the lawmakers were left without a way to pass any legislation for weeks.

Now, as the legislative session has ended, there is no way to pass voting rights restoration laws. This leaves people who are incarcerated once again on the outs of the political process and without their rights as citizens. It's unacceptable.

Too often, justice-impacted individuals hear that "they don't want to vote," or there isn't a real urgency to the issue, but that's just an excuse and a diversion away from the real intent of disenfranchisement. I know firsthand that elections are a big part of prison, especially for clubs and mock elections for president. Our community is craving a chance to participate in the democratic process. It's not an accident that we are disenfranchised. Prison disproportionately impacts Black and brown Americans, and disenfranchisement is a product of white supremacy and a hangover from slavery that continues to silence and exclude marginalized communities.

Despite these challenges, there has been progress across the country. This year, New Mexico and Minnesota restored voting rights to nearly 60,000 people who were on parole and probation. Recent polling by Stand Up America, The Sentencing Project, and other progressive organizations showed that nearly 60 percent of voters believe voting should be a guaranteed right for all. Voters supported full restoration of voting rights, including those both inside and outside of prison.

But these advancements aren't enough. My work with the OJRC is about ensuring Oregon will be the first state to end the practice of felony disenfranchisement. Although these efforts didn't come to fruition this year in large part due to the walkout, we aren't giving up. We know that Oregon can be the first state to re-enfranchise all its citizens. We can be an example for the rest of the country. We can make a safer and stronger community—not just for those individuals, but for everyone in the state.

Voting rights restoration reassures justice-impacted individuals that they still have a stake in their community and the ability to influence the policies that affect their lives. Seventy five percent of people who are disenfranchised have completed their prison sentence and are back home in their communities, where they raise families, work jobs, and pay taxes—just like every other American. Many others are still incarcerated with children back home who are also denied a voice because their loved ones have lost their freedom to vote.

And it's not just presidential elections that justice-impacted individuals are concerned about. We want to be able to have a say in our kids' school curriculum, how our elderly parents will be taken care of in state-run facilities, and how our communities work.

We deserve to have a voice. We deserve the chance to make our community safer and stronger—just like everyone else.

Zach Winston is the policy director for the Oregon Justice Resource Center (OJRC), which provides direct representation or limited legal advice through several projects to people who otherwise would not have access to legal services. Zach is formerly incarcerated and uses his experiences to inform his work around criminal justice reform.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

Update (7/19/23, 11:30 PM EST)