Restoring the Vote is Restoring Community: Vote Yes on Prop 17
By Chloe Cheney-Rice & Ellen Goldwasser
This November, millions of Americans will vote and experience the feeling that their voice matters. However, nearly 50,000 Californians who have completed their prison term and are on parole — people who are disproportionately poor and people of color — will be prohibited from participating in our shared democracy.
Felony disenfranchisement is continued harsh punishment for people on parole. It serves as a reminder that their voices are not valued and they are not yet an equal part of their communities. For people who have completed programs in and out of prison, obtained employment, paid taxes, and contributed in meaningful ways to their community, voter suppression is just another form of political oppression and social isolation.
As social workers, we are committed to advocating for social and racial justice for our clients and in our communities. We have a duty to “engage in social and political action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services, and opportunities they require to meet their basic human needs and to develop fully” (NASW Code of Ethics, 2017). Further, we “should be aware of the impact of the political arena on practice and should advocate for changes in policy and legislation to improve social conditions in order to meet basic human needs and promote social justice (2017). Social workers, therefore, have a duty to vote yes on Prop 17, a California ballot measure which would restore the voting rights for people in California who are on parole.
In the United States, voting is deemed a fundamental right of citizenship, yet we continue to silence marginalized communities through various forms of voter suppression. For social workers and anyone in the fight for social justice, the past few years have been an urgent reminder that racism must be addressed through policy, within oppressive systems, in agencies, and on an individual basis. Historically, race has played the single biggest role in determining the distribution of rights, privileges, and power in this country. Like the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Voting Rights Act (1965) sought to remedy some of the injustices that racism had wrought. Yet many formerly incarcerated people of color continue to experience felony disenfranchisement.
Though California ratified the 19th amendment over 100 years ago, giving women the right to vote, a growing number of women on parole are stripped of that right, and thereby denied the opportunity to contribute to meaningful change in their communities. Across the United States, 80 percent of women who are incarcerated are mothers (Sawyer & Bertram, 2018). When we deny a formerly incarcerated mother the right to vote, we prevent her from engaging in political decision-making that has the power to impact not only herself, but her children as well. Research suggests that when women and other people on parole are denied political participation, they are more likely to experience negative mental health outcomes.
According to Lynn Sanders, who analyzes the psychological benefits of political participation, “political activity stands to be a resource that might offset some of the negative mental health consequences associated with disadvantaged social status. Historically oppressed groups often experience unfair treatment and discrimination, which negatively impacts their social status” (2001). Political participation provides an opportunity for people to feel empowered through vocalizing their needs, which can lead to positive impacts on mental wellbeing.
Just as social workers encourage clients, staff, and community members to participate in advocating for change, we must also actively engage in changing unjust laws that exclude the voices of people who have the right to participate in our democratic process. Giving people on parole the right to vote embodies the most fundamental principle of our democracy: political equality for all citizens. To deny a group of people this right is to say that people on parole are less than citizens. If we require people who are incarcerated to serve their time, complete rehabilitative programs, and prove they have changed in their thinking and behavior, yet we deny them a voice in the political system when they return home, we are not truly restoring their right to engage fully as members of American society.
At what point is a person who caused harm in their past seen as a valuable member of their community? If social workers believe in the potential for people to change, we must provide them opportunities to do so. Restoring the vote to people re-entering their communities could aid their transition back home. Denying voting rights to people on parole compounds their experience of community isolation. According to The Sentencing Project, civic participation has been linked with lower recidivism rates (Chung, 2019). In one study among people who had been arrested previously, 27 percent of non-voters were rearrested, compared with 12 percent of voters (2019). While more research is needed to understand the connection between civic participation and recidivism, we do know that inclusion in the community is linked to prosocial behavior and a lower propensity to commit crime or cause harm. Our society is safest when we encourage civic participation from everyone, including formerly incarcerated people. When people feel engaged and included in society and in their communities, they feel valued as individuals and are more likely to make positive choices and associate with a positive lifestyle.
Social workers have an opportunity to embrace healing justice as a path forward for transforming trauma, oppression, and the profession itself. We know that human identity and well-being are intricately tied to the communities to which one does or does not belong. Social workers understand the power of supportive group spaces, and a caring, safe community when one is recovering from the wounds of oppression. People become empowered by sharing their lived experiences and connecting with others. Thus, the opportunity to engage in collective decision-making through voting not only restores justice to a group that has been oppressed, but is healing for the individual and their community. Cultivating a sense of belonging in a world built on social exclusion is vital for everyone. Social workers must support Proposition 17 to restore voting rights for people on parole in California. Our community members deserve full democratic participation and a voice in our free society.
Chloe Cheney-Rice, ASW, is mental health therapist at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC). Ellen Goldwasser, LCSW, is clinical supervisor at the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC).
References
1. Chung, Jean. (2019). Felony Disenfranchisement: A Primer. The Sentencing Project Retrieved from: https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/felony-disenfranchisement-a-primer/
2. National Association of Social Workers Delegate Assembly. NASW Code of Ethics. (Revised 2017). Available online: https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
3. Sanders, L. M. (2001). The psychological benefits of political participation. Available online: www.http://faculty.virginia.edu/lsanders/Sanders_APSA2001_final.pdf
4. Sawyer, W., & Bertram, W. (2018, May 13). Jail will separate 2.3 million mothers from their children this year. Prison Policy Initiative. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2018/05/13/mothers-day-2018/
