prepared
by
Charlie
Sullivan, Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, and
Timothy
Cooper, Human Rights America
Felony
disenfranchisement laws, as well as the denial of voting rights to residents
of the District of Columbia, result in the denial of voting rights to over
4 million people in the United States.Over
half of those excluded from voting on these grounds are people of color. Furthermore,
this number does not include the individuals denied the right to
vote because they are homeless, the majority of whom are people of color.[20]The
denial of the right to participate in democratic governance and to be represented
through the electoral process disproportionately impacts people of color
in violation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination.This
raises a strong presumption that racial and ethnic discrimination are strong
motivating factors in the denial of this basic right.
“An
estimated 3.9 million Americans, or one in fifty adults, have lost the
right to vote as a result of a felony conviction.Felon
disenfranchisement is significant not only because of the number of citizens
it affects, but also because of its disproportionate impact on the voting
power of racial minorities.” [21]Thirteen
percent, or 1.4 million, of the nation's male African American population
of voting age have already been disenfranchised as a result of this policy.[22]
An
additional 423,710 people (317,782 of whom are people of color) are denied
the right to vote because they are residents of the District of Columbia.[23]For
over 200 years, the United States government has continuously denied citizens
of Washington, D.C. the right to equal participation in their own national
legislature through duly elected representatives.The
District of Columbia is the only political jurisdiction in the continental
United States that is denied Congressional representation, and D.C. residents
are the only U.S. taxpaying citizens who do not enjoy equal suffrage in
their national legislature.Moreover,
D.C. residents are also denied the right to full self-government -- a fundamental
right possessed by all other American citizens.Significantly,
the District's population is 67% African American and 8% Latino.
These
denials of voting rights represent violations of the nondiscrimination,
equal protection and political participation provisions of CERD under Articles
2 and 5.
