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Ballots Behind Bars - Voting Access Challenges For Pre-Trial Inmates

Courtesy: Chuck Smith / Red River Radio News

VOTING ACCESS -  Voting is something that most people probably take for granted  But   there’s  a number of people who are eligible to vote that aren’t always able to get to the polls, that is people who are incarcerated awaiting their day in court.  On any given day there are an estimated 12,000 people in Louisiana being held in parish jails awaiting trial. For the most part, these are people who haven't been convicted of a crime—which means they still have their voting rights. It’s just that they have to make a request to do that.

It sounds simple enough but Voting Rights Activist Bruce Reilly explains– when you’re in jail, it’s not so easy to do.

"You know, you're living in a place where sometimes it's really hard just to get a phone call to your lawyer or some really basic human things or legal things," explained Reilly. "I can only imagine the challenge,  not just the sort of logistical challenge, but the kind of emotional or power-based challenge of asking from your captor the ability to vote."

In Louisiana, inmates who do not have any prior felony convictions can request an absentee ballot by mail, but to get one, they have to include a certification from the sheriff confirming that they are being detained.

Louisiana has 64 parishes, each with its own registrar of voters, its own sheriff and its own jail. That leaves plenty of places for the system to break down.   Louisiana  Secretary of State’s office is responsible for accurate, safe voting as well as assuring voting access but  according to voting advocates,  the focus has been more at voting integrity than reaching incarcerated voters.  At recent political rallies during his election campaign, acting Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin had asked supporters questions with that focus in mind.

"If you want someone who fights the fraud of same-day registration and voting and automatic voter registration, who do you want as Secretary of State?" Ardoin asked.  ""And if you want someone who fights against voting machines in prisons, who do you want?"

Even though rhetoric like that persists,  Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters Sandra Wilson says her office coordinates with the sheriff's office to provide ballots to any eligible voters inside the Justice Center if an inmate initiates the request.  But she admits the environment isn’t exactly  amenable  to  making  things easier.

"Unfortunately, the minute people put on that orange jumpsuit, there is very little recognition of their humanity, much less their civic engagement," Wilson said. "And so there is not a lot of interest in creating an environment that is conducive to restoration.  It is designed to be just the opposite."

Under the law, anyone in jail awaiting  trial  is innocent until proven guilty and until that time, legally -- their voting rights are intact.  But getting to vote  while  behind  bars  in  Louisiana  has  its  share  challenges .   WRKF Public Radio in Baton Rouge contributed to this report.

Chuck Smith brings more than 30 years' broadcast and media experience to Red River Radio. He began his career as a radio news reporter and transitioned to television journalism and newsmagazine production. Chuck studied mass communications at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and motion picture / television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also taught writing for television at York Technical College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and video / film production at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport.