This month, dozens of governors across the country are being inaugurated—some for their first time, others after years in office. As they assume the mantle of the highest office in their states, they have a critical role to play: protect the right to vote.
Today, nearly six million people, mostly Black and Brown people, are blocked from voting by various forms of felony disenfranchisement. All but two states, Maine and Vermont, limit access to the polls for those with criminal justice involvement. And in Kentucky, Iowa, and Virginia, some people are banned from voting for life. Recent estimates show that one in every 13 African Americans are denied the right to vote due to this injustice.
Felony disenfranchisement and other efforts to block formerly and currently incarcerated people from the polls are part of a long and ugly history of efforts to disenfranchise people of color. As we celebrate the life and work of Dr. King and others, we must remain mindful that mass incarceration and felony disenfranchisement have eroded the civil rights gained through the blood, sweat, and tears of those who marched across this country in the ’60s.
[For more on this story by LEWIS WEBB, go to https://www.newsweek.com/2020-...oting-rights-1313660]
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