[Ed. – Ahead of its time]
Washington DC is set to allow imprisoned people to vote, a significant move because US states have long disenfranchised those with felony convictions, even after they have served their sentences behind bars.
There were more than 6 million Americans who were unable to vote in the 2018 midterms because of a felony conviction. Washington DC’s plan would put the US Capitol in line with just two other states in the country.
Washington DC has a very high incarceration rate and up to 4,500 people could be affected by the measure, included in emergency police reform legislation that passed the city council this week.
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“Expanding voting rights to persons in prison is a historic step for American democracy,” said Nicole Porter, director of advocacy at the Sentencing Project, a criminal justice reform group, in a statement.
