Unlocking the Vote
In Wisconsin, former felons cannot register to vote until they have completed probation, parole, and any other extended supervision. Even then, many are still not aware that their civil rights have been fully restored and are wary about voting.
Many of our members are actively engaged in League efforts to have fair maps drawn in the 2020 redistricting process following the 2020 census. Prison gerrymandering is an aspect of the redistricting process that many in America, in Wisconsin, and in Dane County are not aware of.
We hope you’ll join us as we explore these topics and others related to structural discrimination against formerly incarcerated people with speaker Frank Davis.
Saturday, February 1, 10 a.m. to noon
Madison College South (Goodman Campus)
2429 Perry St, in Madison
Rooms 201 and 203
Frank Davis
Frank Davis is an activist, community leader, and a self-described “Inspirationist.” He is also a statewide board member of EXPO (Ex-incarcerated People Organizing), an organization that works to end mass incarceration, eliminate all forms of structural discrimination against formerly incarcerated people, and restore formerly incarcerated people to full participation in the life of our communities. For the last three years he was the Lead Organizer of MOSES, a nonprofit organization that fights for policy reform around the criminal justice system. He has fought to bring awareness of issues in the criminal justice system, including solitary confinement, old law, and revocation. While at MOSES, he spearheaded their Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE) campaign, Relational Voter Program (RVP), and other efforts to get people engaged, informed, and registered to vote. Frank has worked with Prison Ministries of Wisconsin, traveling around the state erecting a life-sized model of the solitary confinement cell and speaking about the mental effects that it has on the men and women inside prison and on the family members who support them. He shares his first-hand accounts of spending more than 5 years in solitary (3 years consecutively at Wisconsin’s old Super Max in Boscobel). He has a passion to give back to the community and to be a catalyst of change within the criminal justice system and beyond.
After spending close to 23 years in prison, Frank prepared himself for a solid return to the community. Frank has mentored young men dealing with drug addiction and life struggles at the Daily Report Center, encouraging them with stories of accomplishment and ways of positive thinking. For 2 years he was a freelance writer, publishing articles for UMOJA magazine and The Madison Times. He also went back to school, receiving his degree in the field of CNC Programming and Tool and Die.
After successfully completing 9 years of community supervision, he was able to regain his full rights and vote for the first time at the time in February of 2018. Frank continues to work to change things in his neighborhood and the community of Madison.
Also speaking at the event were Carl Fields and Jerome Dillard.
Here is a link to the documentary Suppressed: The Right to Vote, which Jerome Dillard encouraged the audience to watch. It reviews the many efforts used to suppress the vote in the 2018 election for governor of Georgia.
This January 30, 2020, column in the Capital Times by guest columnist Dave Dodderidge echoes the stories of the speakers.
League Positions on Incarceration
LWVUS
From 2018-2020 Impact on Issues (p. 18):
In the 2010s, Leagues worked in their state legislatures with other concerned organizations for bills to re-enfranchise former felons, believing that excessive disenfranchisement undermines voting rights as well as reintegration into the community. In 2018, Leagues were successful in working with a broad coalition of individuals and organizations to re-enfranchise 1.4 million former felons. This success is paving the way for similar efforts in Leagues across the country.
2014 blog post: Protecting Voters, Restoring Democracy
LWVWI
LWVWI has registered in support of Assembly Bill 400, relating to counting individuals confined in state prison to determine population for redistricting purposes, and in support of Assembly Bill 477, relating to restoring the right to vote to certain persons barred from voting as a result of a felony conviction, changing the information required on voter registration forms, and changing voting procedure for certain persons who are convicted of felonies.
Jerome Dillard, Statewide Director of EXPO, and Sarah Ferber, Associate Director of EXPO, spoke at the October 2019 state issues briefing. View their Unlock the Vote presentation slides.
State league positions on citizens’ rights include:
Regarding Voting, we support: Restoration of the voting rights of felons who are not currently incarcerated
In the state League’s 2016 amendment to positions document (p. 20):
In the 2005-2006 session, the League successfully supported a bill with sweeping administrative changes intended in large part to comply with HAVA. . . . The League also expressed concerns about some aspects of the bill, all of which passed, including: the lack of a provision for removing the felon designation from a person’s name on the statewide voter registration list when his/her voting rights are restored; a requirement that a person registering to vote at the poll to affirm publicly her/his felon status . . .