Kaitlyn Hughes | news editor

*This article was updated for accuracy. It previously said that “Kleissas uploads resources.” It was changed to “Resources are uploaded.”

As a formerly incarcerated individual, Taili Thompson has involved himself in projects such as the ACLU’s Unlock the Vote to help educate returning citizens on their rights.

Thompson said there are a lot of formerly and currently incarcerated citizens who are either unaware of their right to vote or do not think that the people they are voting for impact their lives.

This is why Thompson, who now is the director of the violence prevention department at Operation Better Block, continues to educate others on their voting rights.

“It’s the best way for us to actually be restored as citizens,” Thompson said. “It’s to be a part of policies that allow for the mistakes that we’ve made to be forgiven, and for us to become normal citizens again.

Because, without that, as a returning citizen, you almost become a second-class citizen. Only way that’s going to change is being involved with the political process.”

In Pennsylvania, those currently incarcerated for a felony conviction and those who were convicted of violating the Pennsylvania Election Code in the last four years are ineligible to register to vote.

People who are pretrial detainees, serving a sentence for a misdemeanor, have a felony conviction but will be released from the correctional facility prior to the election, on probation, on parole or on house arrest are still eligible for voting.

‘Empowered to be able to vote’

When Connie Clark took on the role of deputy warden for programs and services at Allegheny County Jail she was looking for ways to enhance registration and voting efforts.

She began putting registration forms on the housing units, but she quickly realized that people did not know how to register or if they were eligible to vote. People also lacked basic knowledge on elections.

“I saw this disconnect,” Clark said.

Then she met Amy Kleissas, director of civic education in schools and communities for the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh.

Together with the help of the Black Political Empowerment Project, they implemented a program in 2023 that helps get incarcerated individuals in the Allegheny County Jail registered to vote.

“We just wanted to get the education out there to the population, so that they understood what their rights were and that they felt empowered to be able to vote despite the fact that they are incarcerated,” Clark said.

Before an election, a group of volunteers go into the jail to get people registered and help them fill out absentee ballot applications.

Resources are uploaded to the incarcerated individuals’ tablets including a sheet that outlines who can and cannot vote, a video about basic election information, a video on how to register to vote, a video on municipal elections and a voter guide, which lists candidates on the ballot.

With a population of about 1,900, there were 93 people who voted from the jail in the 2020 presidential election, according to Clark. In 2024, the population of the jail was about the same and they had 154 total voters.

“One of the things we’ve done is just making [voting] more accessible,” Kleissas said.

A seat at the political table

Lack of education is not the only thing impeding incarcerated individuals or returning citizens from voting.

Ariel White, an associate professor of political science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has done research on voting and political participation from people who have had contact with the criminal justice system.

In her research, White found that people who are convicted of a misdemeanor are less likely to vote in the future. She said this happens because time spent in jail can result in job loss or housing instability, which makes it harder to focus on voting.

Since people in office have the power to make legislation in relation to the criminal justice system, White thinks it is important for incarcerated individuals and returning citizens to vote.

“This is a set of people with experiences and knowledge that I think should have a seat at the table as we’re making policy going forward,” White said.

According to the Pennsylvania Constitution, someone who has been convicted of embezzlement of public money, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime, are ineligible to hold any office of trust or profit in the commonwealth.

If returning citizens or incarcerated individuals do not vote, they are excluded from politics all together, Thompson said.

“As returning citizens, we really have power because we have what’s called a lot of political equity if we choose to use it. Because of mass incarceration, there happen to be a lot of us,” Thompson said. “If we realize that, collectively, if we started to vote and we came together as a collective with an agenda, people would have to answer to our agenda because there are a lot of us.”

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu