D.C., Activists Get Out the Word: Yes, Prisoners Can Vote

The District is one of the few places in the United States where nearly everyone with a criminal record can vote. Only those serving time for felonies are excluded.

So, throughout this election season, community groups and the D.C. government have encouraged ex-offenders, and some of the people serving time, to vote.

Those booked into the D.C. jail get voter registration information when they arrive and when they leave. Since March, about 2,400 inmates have received registration forms. Because the average stay is 28 days, most of the inmates have long since been released.

But about 100 inmates requested absentee ballots for Tuesday's election, and about half were approved and had ballots delivered to the jail.

"We try to educate the inmate of their right to vote," said Devon Brown, director of the D.C. Department of Corrections. "Many of them don't know they can vote."

On the campaign trail, political candidates often encounter ex-offenders who tell them they can't vote, often because they have served time in federal prisons in states where inmates are barred from voting. D.C. residents convicted of felonies are spread across 75 institutions. Vermont and Maine are the only states that allow prisoners to vote.

Regionally, Virginia requires ex-offenders to petition to have their voting rights reinstated. Maryland allows those who complete their sentences to vote.

Charlie Sullivan, co-founder of the prisoner advocacy group CURE (Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants), has advocated in the District and nationally for more than a decade to secure greater prisoner voting rights. He considers the stripping of the right, particularly for those awaiting trial, nothing more than a "poll tax."

"Those who have the money to post bond can vote," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said the District is doing a better job of getting the word out, but there is still work to do. There are about 1,900 people in the D.C. jail, and Sullivan said that many more than the 100 who requested ballots are probably eligible to vote.

The Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services is trying to instill the idea of voting in youth committed to its care. Two years ago, the agency sponsored a mayoral forum at Oak Hill, the District's juvenile detention center in Laurel. At the event, Director Vincent Schiraldi said it was the first forum and voter registration drive of its kind in a juvenile facility.

Although most were too young to vote, the detainees asked tough questions about the closure of D.C. General Hospital, the rising cost of housing in the city, the shabby state of the public schools and the kind of programs the candidates would establish to keep youth busy.

"What are you going to do for us?" one boy asked.

This year, five Oak Hill youths were eligible to vote and cast absentee ballots. Derrick Jackson, 18, said he cast his ballot for Barack Obama. Derrick said he learned the electoral college of 538 popularly elected representatives are the ones who actually pick the president, but he felt good about voting.

"This is my first time voting," said Jackson, who waived his right to confidentiality. "I got a chance to pick who I want. This is a big step. I believe in change."