Pressley, Welch introduce legislation to secure felony voting rights

Corey “Al-Ameen” Patterson has never voted in any election. 

That’s because since November 2009, Patterson has been serving a 15-years-to-life sentence at Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk. Since being incarcerated, Patterson’s right to vote has been revoked. 

In a testimony before members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Patterson said this means the society that he lives in is not a reflection of his imagination — nor of the individuals who came through the same school-to-prison pipeline from which he emerged.

“We have legislators coming through here looking at the food we eat, the water we drink, how they treat our visitors, how so much is wrong and not really being able to connect the dots between the criminal justice system and the community … all the shootings that happen on the outside, all of the inequities that happen in prison, that’s all related. That’s all connected. The fact that we can’t vote is why things are so ugly in here,” Patterson said in his testimony.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), shared Patterson’s testimony Wednesday outside the Capitol as she unveiled legislation that would secure voting rights for felons like Patterson. 

The Inclusive Democracy Act would ensure Americans convicted of a felony have the right to cast their ballots in federal elections. The law would affect some 4.6 million Americans, Pressley said, predominantly Black Americans. 

“We must be just as relentless in protecting and expanding access to the ballot box, including for incarcerated citizens,” Pressley said. “They have not forfeited their rights of citizenship, and so they deserve to have, to have their voices heard and to have access to the ballot.”

The act would guarantee the right to vote in federal elections for all Americans, regardless of criminal conviction, and would require that those with past convictions receive notice that they have the right to vote and would retain the right to vote. 

Voting rights have been a top-of-mind issue for Democrats going into the 2024 election year. Concerns of voter suppression — which disproportionately impacts Black Americans — has been a concern of advocates since the 2020 presidential and midterm elections. 

Democrats have accused Republicans of enacting discriminatory voter laws, including limiting the number of voting locations in underserved communities, limiting access to early and mail-in voting and purging ballots.

Pressley’s co-sponsor, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), said on Wednesday that there is a “significant effort” to keep people from the ballot box.

“If you can’t win at the ballot box, don’t let people vote. That has been a tactic in many of the states around the country, so it’s not just here in Congress,” said Welch. “We’re committed to full access to the ballot box as a birthright in this country.”

When it comes to granting the right to vote to those convicted of a felony, however, confusion often arises over state laws, said Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights with the Campaign Legal Center.

“Nearly 5 million people are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction, but almost 18 million more may be effectively disenfranchised because of the state patchwork of confusing laws, onerous paperwork requirements and fear of being prosecuted,” Lang said. 

While 48 states have restrictions on which people with felonies can vote, not all these laws are the same.

For instance, in 2020, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a law that restored voting rights to felons who completed their sentence, unless they were convicted of homicide. Arizona offers a similar law, but with key differences — first-time felony offenders who have not been convicted of firearms-related offenses have voting rights restored automatically when they complete their sentence. But those previously convicted of another felony, or who have not paid restitution, cannot vote unless they petition or have the judge who discharged them at the end of the probation restore their rights.

Many of these laws disproportionately affect Black voters, who make up 37 percent of the incarcerated population, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. 

One out of every 19 African Americans of voting age is disenfranchised, which is 3.5 times more than non-African Americans, the Sentencing Project found in 2022.

Pressley opened up on Wednesday to share that her father was one of those Black voters to be disenfranchised.

“Growing up my father Martin was absent for most of my formative years, because his addiction was criminalized. This was incredibly destabilizing for our family,” said Pressley. “I really feel my father was discarded. He was treated as if he was disposable, and he was alienated from our society, and our family’s experience is certainly no anomaly. Especially as Black Americans, hundreds of thousands of people behind the wall are told that they do not matter, that their voices do not matter, that their contributions to society do not matter.”

Today, she said, her father is healthy and a professor of journalism. 

“We have got to disrupt this legacy in this country of treating trauma with more trauma. We need a democracy that values all people, we need a democracy that ensures all citizens can make their voices heard in our elections,” said Pressley.