ADVOCATES AND LEGISLATIVE allies are pushing to restore voting rights to more than 7,700 incarcerated felons in Massachusetts prisons and jails, calling it a racial justice issue.
“The disenfranchisement of these citizens, our people, perpetuates the racial injustices already present in the entire system,” said state Sen. Liz Miranda, a Boston Democrat, in a virtual briefing on Monday. “It’s effectively diluting the political voice of entire communities.”
In 2000, voters approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting those serving time for a felony conviction from voting while incarcerated.
The change was introduced by then-Acting Gov. Paul Cellucci soon after an increase in political organizing by prison inmates in the state.
Those serving time on misdemeanor charges can request an absentee ballot and vote while incarcerated, and those with a felony conviction regain voting rights in the state after they are released.
Miranda is the sponsor of a Senate bill that would repeal the 2000 constitutional amendment that bars incarcerated felons from voting in state and federal elections. It was reported favorably by the Senate in April. To take effect, the measure would need to win majority support in a joint constitutional convention of Senate and House in two successive legislative sessions, and then be approved by voters via a ballot question.
Miranda has also sponsored a bill that would restore the right of incarcerated felons to vote in the local and municipal elections.
In 2022, Massachusetts enacted a series of voting reforms that included making it easier for eligible voters to request a mail ballot from behind bars. However, people convicted of felonies were still barred from voting.
The Sentencing Project, a non-profit that advocates for the rights of incarcerated people, released a report Monday highlighting the disproportionate effect of the voting bans on Black and Latino residents. Black residents make up 7 percent of the state population but 31 percent of the state prison population. Latinos make up 13 percent of the state population but 29 percent of those incarcerated.
These disparities exist in the prison system due to how policing, prosecutorial discretion, and sentencing are applied differently to people from different racial backgrounds, according to the Sentencing Project report. The report says Black and Latino people tend to get longer prison sentences for felony crimes, which increases the amount of time they are disenfranchised. The report also says research suggests that individuals in states that restrict the right to vote after incarceration are more likely to get arrested again.
Advocates say civic engagement through voting can play an important role in rehabilitation during incarceration.
Inmates with voting rights also become another constituent group that gets attention from elected officials, said Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, a Somerville Democrat and cosponsor of House versions of the measures to restore felon voting rights. “When incarcerated individuals had the right to vote, there were [many] more legislators going in and out of prisons and jails because there are voters there,” she said.
Tufayl “Jersey” Lane, a formerly incarcerated person, said incarcerated people should have a say in laws that they are directly impacted by. “In order for us to make advancements in the state, we need to allow individuals who are most impacted by the laws on the books to have a seat at the table,” said Lane.
