In the United States, home of over 20 percent of the world’s prison population, the vast majority of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people are denied the right to vote. What’s the history behind this? And what can be done about it?

For today’s show, Thursday host Allen Ruff takes as close look at incarcerated voter disenfranchisement with Emmett Sanders, a formerly incarcerated researcher and writer with the Challenging E-Carceration Project from MediaJustice.

They cover issues like prison gerrymandering, electronic monitoring of parolees, how voting rights for prisoners fits into the broader abolition movement, and Emmett Sanders’ report “Full Human Beings: An Argument for Incarcerated Voter Enfranchisement.”

Cover photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash

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