Pennsylvania Lawmakers Prepare to "Unlock" the Vote
May 11, 2009
Sabrina Williams 202/728-9557 or 305/904-3960
Today, the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee passed a bill, HB 1072, that would require correctional facilities to provide voter registration materials to those individuals preparing to re-entry society from a correctional facility. Advancement Project lauds the committee’s efforts to move this important piece of legislation towards a floor vote.
From our work and partnerships with organizations working to educate and assist voting-eligible inmates and the re-entry community, it is clear that education about voting rights, and encouraging voting and civic participation, helps former inmates re-integrate in the community, and become law-abiding and productive members of society.
Enfranchising people with past convictions also increases public safety: research has found that people with criminal records who vote are half as likely to be re-arrested as their non-voting counterparts. In contrast, restricting voting rights does not prevent crime, provide compensation to victims, or help formerly incarcerated individuals re-integrate into their communities.
Expanding the right to vote, not restricting it, is also in the best interests of Pennsylvania’s economy. Restoring the right to vote helps people rejoin their communities and resume the duties of full citizenship, including participating in the workforce.
This is a non-partisan issue which has widespread public support. For example, in 2008, legislation requiring Louisiana correctional facilities to provide notification of voting rights to newly released prisoners was signed into law by Republican Governor Bobby Jindal. Furthermore, a 2006 survey showed that sixty percent (60%) of Americans believe that the right to vote by previously incarcerated individuals is an important factor in their successful reintegration into society.
Education and assistance to individuals re-entering society is necessary, as there is much confusion and misinformation about the voting rights of former prisoners and current inmates. Furthermore, education of the correctional facility employees and even election officials is necessary, as studies show that many of these individuals are confused about the voting rights of former offenders, and sometimes circulate inaccurate information. Under current Pennsylvania law, all previously incarcerated individuals who have served their time and have been released are immediately eligible to register to vote.
These concerns have a significant impact on our communities. According to a Pew Center report issued this year, as of 2007, approximately 1 in 28 Pennsylvanians, or more than 346,000 people, were under correctional control, and about 25% of these were in prison or jail.
Advancement Project encourages all Pennsylvania lawmakers to vote “yes” when HB 1072 comes to the floor for a vote. All this data shows that we have every incentive to encourage voting and civic participation by those who have regained their status as free citizens through public penance, and this bill takes a strong step in doing so. When people complete their sentences, they deserve a second chance to work, raise families and vote. Taxpaying citizens deserve a say in their government, and voting is an essential part of reassuming the duties of full citizenship. Restoring the right to vote strengthens our democracy.
Advancement Project's core purpose is to develop, encourage, pioneer and widely disseminate innovative ideas and models that inspire and mobilize a broad national racial justice movement so that universal opportunity and a just democracy are achieved.
The organization was founded on the principle that structural racism can be eliminated and a racially just democracy may be attained through multi-racial collective action by organized communities. Advancement Project's founding team of veteran civil rights lawyers and communications experts have established an organization that informs community organizing with careful legal analysis and strategic communications campaigns. We develop community-based solutions based on the same high quality legal analysis and public education campaigns that produced the landmark civil rights victories of earlier eras.
