State lawmakers and voting rights advocates on Wednesday hailed the Centre County Correctional Facilities efforts to provide voting education and access for eligible incarcerated individuals as a model for other jails.
Members of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus visited the county jail in Benner Township as part of a statewide tour to learn about how correctional facilities provide voter outreach and in support of a bill that would standardize voting access policies at those facilities statewide.
“I haven’t seen a policy as robust in any of the counties we’ve talked to,” state Rep. Rick Krajewski, D-Philadelphia, who co-chairs the PLBC’s voting subcommittee, said at a press conference at the Willowbank Building. “So I really want to take a moment … to applaud you for the work that you are doing because you are showing what it means to actually take it seriously, engage with your population, to do the support that they need and to dedicate that kind of staff and personnel to making that happen.”
More than 20,000 people are incarcerated at county jails in Pennsylvania, and most are eligible to vote but may not know it. Those who are in jail for a misdemeanor conviction or pre-trial detention are eligible to vote by mail-in ballot— which constitutes nearly all of the inmates at the Centre County Correctional Facility. Most formerly incarcerated people are also eligible to vote, as well.
Only those who are currently incarcerated for a felony conviction or who were convicted of violating Pennsylvania election laws in the past four years are not eligible.
Krajewski and fellow subcommitte co-chair Rep. Aerion Abney, D-Pittsburgh, estimate that out of approximately 25,000 people incarcerated at county jails, only about 1,000 have requested ballots.
“The reality is that our state is not doing an adequate job of doing this outreach to eligible voters,” Krajewski said. “If we had a county or a city that was doing a 4% turnout in their elections, we’d be like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ But because it’s county facilities, because these are jails, it’s considered acceptable. So we have to do more to engage with these eligible voters.”
The Centre County Correctional Facility is “showing an example of what this can be on a local level,” Krajewski said. But it hasn’t always been that way.
Prior to 2018, the county did not have a voting policy for inmates, Warden Glenn Irwin said. Then former Centre County Commissioner Michael Pipe, former Warden Chris Schell and community volunteers began working on what would become a “very robust policy” that was ultimately adopted by the county Prison Board in 2022.
Today, all incarcerated individuals are given a tri-fold voting guide with information about who is eligible to vote, how to register and how to receive a ballot. Facility staff provide education and work with the county Elections Office to secure ballots for those who request them after they are determined to be eligible.
“We have community volunteers that come in to help with the education process, so it stays very neutral,” Irwin said. “Just today we met with the League of Women Voters who joined us at our previous meeting. They had some ideas, things that we can do to expand to offer educational materials to the incarcerated individuals. So we’re looking forward to further communications with them and making even more information available.”
Irwin added that the correctional facility also houses incarcerated individuals from seven other counties, and that staff work with those counties’ election offices to get mail ballots for those who request them.
Commissioner Amber Concepcion credited the work of the correctional facility’s staff.
“As most of the individuals incarcerated in county facilities are eligible voters,” Concepcion said. “It is important to have clear procedures so they are able to request a ballot and return it to either our elections office or to their home county elections office. In Center County, our correctional facility proactively provides voter education so that eligible voters can easily request and cast their ballots.”
Based on data compiled by voter advocacy organization All Voting Is Local, Abney said few Pennsylvania county jails have a written voting access policy and procedures for implementing it. That’s something he and other lawmakers are looking to change.
Introduced last year, House Bill 1756 would establish standards for voting at all county jails in the commonwealth. It would ensure each facility has a process for voter education; disseminating voter registration forms, ballot applications and ballots; and designating staff for handling collection and return of ballots.
Tristan Smith, civic engagement director for the NAACP State Conference, said reform is needed because the lack of voting access among incarcerated individuals amounts to disenfranchisement.
“It is unacceptable that many individuals in jails across this commonwealth are not given complete or accurate information about their voting rights,” Smith said. “Sometimes they are given no information at all. This lack of information is a direct assault on the very essence of our democracy. “
Smith cited Centre County as “leaders in this area, serving as a model for other county jails to emulate.”
Jenna Henry, director of grassroots political advocacy group Central PA United, knows firsthand the importance of voting access and information for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.
“My right to vote really opened doors for me to be able to lay the foundation to change my life,” Henry said. “In 2015, I didn’t know I was eligible to vote. Once I realized I was eligible to vote, that right to vote opened a door for me. And when I started volunteering and getting more engaged, that opened up jobs for me. And so it all started with that right to vote. I wouldn’t be here today without it. And so that’s why I’m really proud to have been able to work with Commissioner Pipe to implement the policy that Centre County did put into place.”
She added “civic engagement is proven to reduce recidivism,” and voting rights are entwined with criminal justice reform efforts.
Centre County’s efforts to provide voting access are an example of one way to reform the carceral system, Krajewski said. He was impressed with the “seriousness and integrity around the process,” noting the security measures the correctional facility has in place for ballots.
“Centre County is definitely a good model, and the conversation today was that they were very open and receptive to new ideas and how to do things to expand access to the ballot for folks in the jails,” he said.
The PLBC will continue visits to counties throughout Pennsylvania over the coming weeks.
The last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania is Oct. 21 and the last day to request a mail ballot is by 5 p.m. on Oct. 29.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
For information on registering or requesting a mail ballot, visit centrecountyvotes.gov or vote.pa.gov.
