From Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation:
Across the United States, hundreds of thousands of people in jail retain their right to vote while being held in pretrial detention, having not been convicted of a crime. However, “this population faces so many barriers to voting while in jail that, in many places, they are effectively denied the opportunity to vote,” explains Tova Wang, director of research projects in democratic practices at the Ash Center.
In a recently published case study, Wang documents how a network of organizers, election administrators, and jail staff successfully overcame these obstacles to implement in-person jail voting in Denver, Colorado. The result, Denver’s Confined Voter Program, has boosted voter engagement in jails while balancing the needs of voters with the responsibilities of elections officials and corrections staff.
In November 2020, Denver set up in-person polling places, complete with electronic poll books, voting tablets, and ballot boxes, at the Denver County Jail and Van Cise-Simonet Detention Center. At the time, they became the fourth U.S. municipality to allow in-person voting for incarcerated citizens, joining Washington, D.C.; Cook County, Illinois; and Los Angeles County, California. Since then, Denver has continued to provide incarcerated voters with the same voting experience available to all Denver voters. Those involved have observed the profound impact this has had on people in jail. Wang emphasizes, “The focus is preparing them for life after release, including participating in the voting process.” Continue reading >>>
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