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| NAACP spearheads prison vote drive in ME |
| By google.com |
| Published: 10/06/2009 |
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PORTLAND, Maine — The NAACP is registering voters at prisons in Maine, one of just two states that allow all inmates to vote while behind bars, in what is apparently the nation's first such statewide drive. The relatively few votes at stake — only a few hundred — mean the drive's potential to affect outcomes this fall on such issues as gay marriage, marijuana laws and tax limits is low. Though prison inmates tend to skew to the Democratic side, the drive isn't about furthering any political agenda, said Rachel Talbot Ross, president of the Portland chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "It's about establishing strong voter patterns and becoming a fully functioning person to re-enter society," Ross said. "It's part of the rehabilitation and re-entry process." The NAACP is wrapping up its effort in Maine prisons this week. After next June's primary election, the organization plans to lead another drive at all 15 county jails, as well as state prisons. It's not focusing just on black inmates. Volunteers already have registered an estimated 200 or more inmates at five of the state's seven adult correctional centers. The Maine State Prison's NAACP chapter — the only one of its kind in New England — has 70 members, many of them white, including the branch president, Ross said. Randal Horr, a 49-year-old white inmate at the Bolduc minimum-security prison in Warren, registered as a Democrat when volunteers arrived. Going through the voting process helps him feel connected to the outside world and will help when he is released, he said. Read More. |
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