#12DaysToShowUp Day 10: Restore Voting Rights to Formerly Incarcerated People

Stripping communities of their voting rights is a centuries-long tool used to silence and disenfranchise people of color — and it must stop now.

​The passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 was a major victory of the civil rights era. But in the decades since, attacks on voting rights have been relentless. In California, 162,000 citizens — mostly people of color — can’t vote today, simply because they are in state prison or on parole.

---

Our partners at Initiate Justice, a policy-driven, POC-led organization built by and for people directly impacted by incarceration, work to fight mass incarceration in many ways:

• Their inside-outside organizing strategy includes 8,000 incarcerated people who receive their policy update newsletters, and 175 inside organizers that lead campaigns within California prisons to educate and organize their peers.
• Initiate Justice was instrumental in getting SB1437 passed, which changed the Felony Murder Rule. This was one of the most significant criminal justice bills to get passed in 2018.
• In 2018 a grassroots, 100% volunteer effort without any financial support from big funders gathered over 20,000 signatures to put the Voting Restoration and Democracy Act (VRDA) on the ballot to restore voting rights to currently and formerly incarcerated people. While this did not reach the required number of signatures, Initiate Justice is committed to trying again in 2020!
• In 2019, they are partnering with CA Assembly Member Kevin McCarty to restore voting rights to everyone on parole in California.

SURJ Bay Area is committed to lifting up the work of those directly impacted by incarceration and follows the leadership of Initiate Justice toward criminal justice reforms. We mobilize white folks to get educated about voting rights and gather signatures. We also support the critical work of Initiate Justice with resources from financial support to logistical work and volunteer power. And as part of our #12DaysToShowUp campaign we invite you to:

• Follow Initiate Justice on Facebook (or watch out for announcements in our weekly newsletter) to join mailing nights and the next opportunities to support their advocacy.
• Watch and share this If I Could Vote video.
• Talk to your friends, family, and neighbors about voting rights restoration.
• Join our #12DaysToShowUp campaign and make a gift towards our goal of raising $30,000 for racial justice.

75% of all the funds raised during the #12DaysToShowUp will go to local Black, Indigenous, and People of Color led organizations like Initiate Justice. The remaining 25% will be sent to under-resourced rural SURJ chapters mobilizing white people throughout the U.S to support racial justice causes such as voting rights.