Should we restore voting rights to citizens who are completing their prison sentences?

This is the fundamental question that Assembly Constitutional Amendment 4 (ACA 4) would put to the voters of California if passed by the California Legislature. Voters would decide whether or not to remove the disqualification of incarcerated people from full civic participation.

California wouldn’t be the first state to restore voting rights to citizens serving a prison sentence. In Maine, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., citizens still retain the right to vote while incarcerated.

Currently, there are still deeply systemic barriers that disproportionately prevent Black and brown communities from making their voices heard and using the power of their vote. Members of these communities are incarcerated at higher rates due to inequitable policing practices and policies. For instance, despite making up only 12% of the U.S. population, Black Americans account for 38% of the incarcerated population.

The right to vote is not a privilege; it is an inalienable human right that should be afforded to all citizens regardless of their past.

ACA 4 would expand voting access to approximately 100,000 Californians who have had their constitutional right to vote taken away. Passing a federal version could return the right to vote to the nearly 2 million imprisoned Americans.

Show your commitment to justice and democracy. Sign the petition: Let’s pass ACA 4 in California and demand action at the federal level to restore voting rights to all American citizens serving in prison.