Criminal justice and election officials, along with voting rights advocates, are working across the United States to expand voting among jail detainees
Inmates at the Cook County, Ill., jail vote in a local election at the jail's Division 11 Chapel on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Chicago. CHICAGO — — The voting precinct could have been any one of hundreds throughout Chicago, except that these voters in the first round of the mayoral election were all wearing the same beige smocks. And the security at this polling place wasn’t intended to keep disrupters and campaigners out, but the voters in.
“It feels good to have a voice,” Skillon said after casting his ballot during early voting, before the race went to an April 4 runoff. “We’re going home someday, so we should have a voice in our community.” At least one state, Tennessee, had a bill introduced this year to address one of the barriers. Being in jail as a pretrial detainee is not one of the reasons considered valid for granting a mail ballot request, said Democratic state Sen. Jeff Yarbro, the bill's sponsor. Yabro, who recently announced he was running for mayor of Nashville, wants that changed.
“Previously if detainees wanted to vote, they had to do the legwork,” she said. “They had to know their registration status and make the request for the mail ballot application.” Registrar Dean Logan said as many as 11,700 people could be eligible at a given time when the voting goes countywide. He said it could serve as a model for other counties.
A 2019 state law required that jails take steps to enable voting by detainees who have not been convicted. Smaller jails aren't required to have polling stations but must arrange for absentee ballots. The Chicago Board of Elections brought in several voting booths for the primaries this year along with a large ballot-collection machine and put them in a section of the jail called “the chapel,” which is normally used for religious services and small concerts.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
GOP lawmaker renews push to make English the ‘official language of the United States’Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., has proposed legislation that would make English the official language of the United States that would also require naturalization ceremonies to be English-only.
Read more »
This 130-Year-Old British Cocktail Mixer Is Expanding Into The United StatesFranklin & Sons dives into a booming market expected to eclipse $8.6 billion in sales before the end of the decade.
Read more »
This 130-Year-Old British Cocktail Mixer Is Expanding Into The United StatesFranklin & Sons dives into a booming market expected to eclipse $8.6 billion in sales before the end of the decade.
Read more »
This 130-Year-Old British Cocktail Mixer Is Expanding Into The United StatesFranklin & Sons dives into a booming market expected to eclipse $8.6 billion in sales before the end of the decade.
Read more »
Inflation clouds new report of Texas outpacing the United States in adding jobsWhile jobs are seemingly plentiful, some residents are saying it is hard to be optimistic due to the price of goods nowhere near falling to pre-pandemic pricing.
Read more »
Perspective | The dangerous invisibility of the United States’ construction workersSix construction workers were killed on a Maryland highway. Their deaths were heartbreaking but not surprising to those who have been paying attention.
Read more »