Voices Speak Up About Voting Restrictions Even After The Election

“The only reason why I’m talking to you today is because they pulled me out of that burning vehicle,” said Ramiah Whiteside. In 1995, Whiteside was sentenced to 47 years in prison after fleeing Milwaukee police and crashing into a bus stop, killing four people. Rather than continuing his sentence in prison, he did 25 years and has now been on parole for about a year and is working for EXPO, or Ex-incarcerated People Organizing. 

EXPO’s mission focuses on dismantling all systems that support mass incarceration and excessive supervision. Whiteside has been working particularly with EXPO’s “Unlock the Vote Campaign” during this presidential election because ex-incarcerated individuals like him weren’t able to vote or didn’t have the resources available to them to do so.

“I’m one of 44,000 in the state of Wisconsin who can’t vote, but I pay taxes. I could help you cure cancer and I still won’t be able to vote; it’s just what the law says,” said Whiteside.

According to the ACLU, in Wisconsin, you can vote only after you have finished your sentence and are “off paper.” Meaning that you must be off probation, parole or extended supervision. Misdemeanors, except for misdemeanor treason or bribery, can vote, however. 

Whiteside said that there is a lot of misinformation given to people. “With the people currently incarcerated, they can’t vote. That’s a fact, but what we discovered in the community that a lot of people were under the impression that they couldn’t vote when they actually could.”

On Nov. 2, Unlock the Vote held an event at a small barbershop here in Milwaukee. People were encouraged to come in for a free haircut and talk about the group’s efforts. This helped people have direct access to information on candidates, regardless of their political views. “It doesn’t matter what side to persuade them because they should be able to see information from both sides,” said Whiteside. 

Other groups like this are working to bring more awareness to those who have a more difficult time exercising their rights. All Voting is Local, a program that has been joined together by many states, including Wisconsin, focuses on similar efforts. Particularly within jail systems.

According to All Voting is Local, citizens awaiting trial or convicted of a misdemeanor can cast a ballot. But few are able to, simply because jail officials do not have voting programs that encourage people to exercise their right to vote.

Peter Burress, campaign manager for All Voting Is Local, says their group estimates about 12,500 individuals in our county jails at any given time who are eligible to vote, but don’t have the opportunity to because of administrative hoops and hurdles. 

Back in the spring, they sent the public records requests to every jail administration in the state. They found that 61 out of the 72 counties that responded do not have any voting policies in place for individuals. Since then, there has been some positive efforts, however, COVID also became a big concern with accessibility.

“A lot of late jailed voters, under COVID, have their work release privileges suspended. So individuals are not permitted to lease the jail under any conditions in many cases,” said Burress. “That means that after the deadline request to request an absentee ballot, there isn’t really any way for folks to get their ballot.”

Amber Kelly, who just graduated from UW Platteville with a degree in forensic investigation, is currently a legal secretary with a public defender’s office. She says that Wisconsin’s county jails also make it very difficult for people.

From Kelly’s experience, it’s things like phone calls and mailing services within jails that makes it difficult to request a simple absentee ballot. “There’s never an issue when it comes to inmates calling their family, but most government agencies aren’t able to accept these calls. Most don’t even have the money to send a letter to request these ballots,” said Kelly. “Mail screening is such a big issue. It can take so long for any requested mail to get to them.”

This has been a part of a long history of fighting for the rights of voters. Back in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right to vote of eligible voters in jail in the case of O’Brien v. Skinner. Decades later, there are still major barriers towards getting your ballot.

Whiteside says that it’s a matter of changing the law that means the most to him. “Even if they say I can’t vote, at least let the nonviolent people vote or let people who have done up to five years clean vote.” Whiteside still has about six years left of parole until he has the chance to vote.