The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office partnered with the local branch of the NAACP to host a voter registration drive at the county jail last week.
What We Know:
- Dekalb Sheriff Melody Maddox said in a statement, “It is important that every citizen who has the right also has a chance to exercise that right. Many incarcerated individuals don’t realize that they can still cast absentee ballots in elections while they are in custody, but they must first be registered voters.”
- Georgia law prohibits convicted felons who have not completed their sentence, which includes probation, parole, fines, and fees from voting. However, men and women who have been arrested and are currently in the county jail waiting for their cases to be heard can cast ballots.
- DeKalb NAACP representatives met with the inmates to explain the registration process and help them complete the application. They plan to return the applications to the county elections office for processing. The event resulted in 38 inmates filling out applications to become registered voters.
- The DeKalb County NAACP conducts its voter outreach program with incarcerated individuals every year.
- Georgia has seen a spike in the number of people registering to vote. For example, last year, 322,000 active voters were added to the rolls, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Voters this year will choose a president, two U.S. senators, and three representatives to Congress.
