Trump versus Biden: Doubts about the "model democracy" - five million US citizens are not allowed to vote

It could be a very crucial choice.

But when the US president is determined on November 3rd, millions of Americans cannot vote.

• Elections will be held in the USA on November 3rd.

  Joe Biden challenges Donald Trump in the struggle for president.

• But unlike in Germany, for example, many citizens in the United States are excluded from the elections.

  Last but not least, former offenders are affected.

• BuzzFeedNews USA

  has examined the

  situation of ex-offenders who are excluded from the right to vote in

  detail.

• Before the 2020 US election, BuzzFeed News Germany and the 

  Ippen-Digital network are

   using BuzzFeed research to provide insights into the situation in the United States - the text is now exclusively available in translation.

Washington DC

- Almost

will not be allowed to vote in the 2020 election of the United States because they have been convicted of a crime in the past.

This is shown by a

.

Studies by the organization

show that criminals are still often excluded from the right to vote, which is known in the US as

- despite several legal

in the states in the past 25 years.

“Much has been done in the States to challenge the disenfranchisement of crimes.

But there is still a lot to do, ”said Nicole D. Porter, Sentencing Project Leader,

.

Behind the project is an

that is involved in

,

among other things

.

Mass incarceration is a problem, Porter said.

In addition, the number of people who were deprived of their voting rights is still "too high for a country that wants to be seen as a model democracy."

2020 US election: One in sixteen black people of voting age is not allowed to vote in the US

The

NGO's

report

estimates that 5.17 million offenders will be banned from voting this year.

That is 15 percent less than in 2016, when an estimated 6.11 million Americans were unable to vote due to the “felony disenfranchisement”.

According to the study,

in crime is

widespread

, especially in the

.

There, the restrictions were used in the past to exclude black Americans in particular from the elections.

In the states of

for

example,

still

unable to vote because of criminal convictions.

USA: Wrestling for the Right to Vote - Florida's Republicans Thwart Constitutional Amendment

In the US, disenfranchisement affects many blacks and other “BIPOC” communities, such as indigenous or non-white people.

According to the study, one in

and

voting age are not allowed to vote.

Among non-black adults, however, it is only one in 59 people.

The study also estimates that around

in Florida * are still

, even though they have already served their sentences.

Apparently, this was

not

changed by a

, which received overwhelming approval from the electorate in 2018 and gave around 1.4 million former offenders the opportunity to vote again.

Voting laws will exclude 5.2 million Americans from participating in the 2020 election, but some reforms are opening up our democracy to voices long silenced.

#FreeTheVote pic.twitter.com/NlUsgWudId

- Sentencing Project (@SentencingProj) October 26, 2020

The reason for this is a

that was

signed

by

last year

: He made regaining the right to vote dependent on outstanding restitutions, fines and fees in connection with the convictions.

Former offenders then sued the State of Florida.

Their argument: The law creates a so-called

system, ie “pay to vote” - but this is similar to election

, known as

These are taxes that voters once had to pay to get the right to vote.

Today they are prohibited by the constitution because they are considered discriminatory.

US Election: Lots of People Excluded - More than $ 27 million in donations for ex-offenders

A

however, upheld DeSantis' law with a narrow majority on September 11, 2020.

In response, members of the

, the group behind the 2018 constitutional amendment, set up a fund for fines and fees.

This "Florida Rights Restoration Coalition" worked with court officials in all 67 counties.

Their goal: to help former offenders calculate and pay off their fines or obtain commutations.

The organization began paying offender fines in late 2019.

More than 86,000 people have since donated more than $ 27 million to the fund, a large portion of which was received following the

last month.

"We're doing what we can to remove financial hurdles for people too poor to meet these legal debt obligations,"

, coalition executive director,

on the phone.

Florida in focus in the US elections - also because of excluded citizens: "That is still a problem"

Porter

points out that the coalition's estimate of the number of non-voting criminals predates the 9/11

: “There is undoubtedly a smaller number of people deprived of the right to vote right now when we estimated them to be close to 900,000. ”At the time of the court ruling, the coalition said it had helped more than 4,000 ex-offenders through its program.

At the time this article was published, representatives of the coalition had not yet responded to a request for current figures.

According to the

from the

who has studied the effects of the law, it's hard to say how many ex-offenders have registered in Florida for the election.

The state does not collect any data in this regard.

In addition, there is no central system that indicates how much debt people have - this makes it difficult for former offenders to even find out whether they have outstanding financial obligations - and can vote or not.

"That's still a problem," says

from the coalition.

"That is why our work is so important and necessary: ​​That we work through it together with the officials."

Presidential election in the USA: "Makes you feel that you are no longer part of society"

Even Meade, an activist for a decade, found out through his last

earlier this year

that he still owed $ 1,200.

Years earlier, when he asked about his debts, he was apparently falsely told that they had been paid.

“I could afford to pay for it,” he says.

“But it shows how complicated this system is.

And when something like this happens to a person like me, well, what does that mean for the average person? "

For 45-year-old Dolce Bastien, convicted of a crime in the 1990s, the work of the coalition made all of this easier.

In 2019 the group supported him in making sure that he

had paid

all his

.

This fall he plans to vote for the first time in his life.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Bastien, who works for a retail chain in Jacksonville.

He tells

that it felt like "constant punishment"

to be

from voting after serving his sentence and reorganizing his life.

“Not being able to vote makes you feel again that you are no longer part of society,” said Bastien.

That he now has the impression that he can make a difference feels good: "The feeling when I can actually go to the polls and vote will be overwhelming."

Trump or Biden?

Many voters excluded in US elections - NGO sees Florida as a "warning example"

Porter of the Sentencing Project said

is "a cautionary example in many ways."

At the same time,

is the most far-reaching restoration of the right to vote in history and is evidence of a growing struggle.

In recent years, several states including

the franchise for ex-offenders.

In California, for example, a

is currently being

developed that would allow ex-convicts to vote while

.

To solve the problem, one must

the

, and work to ensure that no citizen loses his right to vote in criminal disputes, said Porter.

“We still have far too many people who are excluded from voting.” *

Stephanie K. Baer

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