Election 2008

Dear friends,

On Election Day, people across the country will miss out on casting a ballot because they don't even know they're eligible to vote. Right now in Alabama, we're working to repair the democratic process with a groundbreaking voter registration project being conducted in partnership with The Ordinary People's Society (TOPS), an Alabama organization.

The Alabama Constitution protects the right to vote for people convicted of nonviolent, low-level drug crimes but most of the 70,000 people in the Alabama criminal justice system who fall into this category have never been told they can vote. Even when they do know they're eligible, they have no easy access to the ballot box -- and as many as 10,000 eligible voters are currently incarcerated in Alabama's overcrowded prisons.

TOPS is going into prisons to register voters this fall, working to remedy this egregious example of how the war on drugs undermines our democracy. But Alabama is just one example among many.
 
More than five million people nationwide are disfranchised for all kinds of offenses, with nonviolent drug convictions making up a significant portion of that group. In some states, anyone with a felony conviction is barred from ever voting again -- even once their debt to society is fully paid. In many other states, the process of restoring your right to vote after a felony conviction is so wrapped in red tape that even the most determined would-be voter gets stuck.

Not only that, but widespread misconceptions keep eligible potential voters from ever even trying to register. For example, in New York state, a survey conducted by a voting rights organization found that many county registrars in New York believed that people who had been arrested -- not convicted, just arrested -- could not vote. Among arrestees themselves, an even greater percentage believed the same thing!

The historic work DPA and TOPS are doing in Alabama paves the way to address larger questions about the intersection between voting rights and the criminal justice system. One of these questions takes on particular relevance given the close results of recent elections: Nationally, how many potential votes are lost because of draconian penalties for nonviolent drug offenses?

As we begin this conversation nationwide, I am excited to be part of our Alabama effort in advance of a presidential election that is projected to have very high voter turnout. We have a long way to go to restore democracy to our criminal justice system but I am proud that Alabamians who didn't even know they could vote will be part of the large numbers of Americans who cast a ballot this Election Day. You can join us by supporting this historic work with a donation to DPA Network.

Sincerely,

Gabriel Sayegh
Director, State Organizing and Policy Project
Drug Policy Alliance Network