Chicago (AP) The voting precinct could have been any one of hundreds throughout Chicago, except that these voters in the first round of the mayoral election were all wearing the same beige smocks. And the security at this polling place wasn't intended to keep disrupters and campaigners out, but the voters in. When first-time voter Tykarri Skillon finished studying the list of nine candidates, looking for those who shared his priorities on jobs and affordable housing, he marked his ballot and then was escorted with other voters back to their cells in the Cook County Jail. The 25-year-old, awaiting trial on a weapons charge, is part of a group not always mentioned in discussions about voting disenfranchisement. People serving sentences for felony convictions lose their right to vote. Detainees awaiting trial or serving misdemeanor sentences do retain that right, but face barriers to exercising it in many parts of the United States. The Cook County Jail, with more than 5,500 inmate
CHICAGO The most recent survey from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, released in December, showed that 451,400 of the 636,300 people held in jails across the country had not been convicted and thus should retain their right to vote.
Voting rights effort targets those held in jails across US - New York Amsterdam News amsterdamnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from amsterdamnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.