Voters Behind Bars

Aug 29, 2024

While the 2024 Republican presidential nominee has been convicted of , millions of Americans caught in the criminal justice system鈥斺€攚颈濒濒 .听

Hundreds of thousands of people are held in jails awaiting trial, and while they are legally allowed to vote, it is often to do so. Those who are convicted and imprisoned are automatically disenfranchised in all states except .听

Meanwhile, those who serve time and have felonies on their record may or may not be able to vote they reside in. The state of in particular has attacked the voting rights of people with a former felony. After voters passed a ballot measure restoring voting rights, the conservative legislature that right in various ways, going as far as prosecuting people who tried to vote. In fact, Donald Trump reportedly by failing to register his felonies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff and casting a vote in the state鈥檚 primary election.听

Dortell Williams, who is imprisoned at Mule Creek State Prison in California with a life sentence without possibility of parole, spoke with 大象传媒 Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on 大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about the voting rights of those trapped by the criminal justice system.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.