Prison Gerrymandering
This testimony is to voice opposition to Sen Ward's effort to increase gerrymandering by preventing prison inmates from being counted in their home district. This country has pressed for too long to disenfranchise those with any legal infractions in their records, making convictions most likely to disproportionately affect minority groups felonies and finding other ways to prevent U.S citizens from executing their legal rights to vote. In this case, the following facts need to be considered: 1. A minimum sentence is not set in stone. Sentences can be changed at any time. An incarcerated person can be released for good behavior, commutation, acquittal on appeal, special programs and other reasons. 2. No matter when a person is released, the primary issue is lack of representation and lack of access to constituent services. Those who are incarcerated for longer periods of time need those services as much as those who serve a shorter sentence. 3. No matter the length of sentence, the practice of counting incarcerated people in their places of incarceration inflates the voting power of people living near a prison and dilutes the representation of people in communities whose residents have been sent to prison. 4. It is also clear that this effort is intended to prevent opposition as the vote on this was announced with less than 24 hours notice. Please stop unfairly disenfranchising U.S. citizens for political gain. Diane Chido