Alert - Prison Gerrymandering Hearing

March 10, 2021

Alert - today at one there is a public hearing on a proposal I cosponsored with other New Haven lawmakers on prison gerrymandering, which would affect New Haven’s representation in the census by counting inmates in the town where they were last domiciled. If you cannot attend, you can file testimony.

As I testified during a hearing on similar legislation I sponsored in 2019, state statute is clear that inmates are not considered residents of the towns where they are incarcerated, yet they are counted there for the purposes of legislative redistricting. The 2019 proposal was not successful.

“Dillon said the principle is whether or not an individual is fairly counted at the area they live and whether or not the towns where they are domiciled are fairly represented.”

Although inmates are now counted in the town where they are incarcerated, they do not have the right to vote. Given that changing voting laws for inmates would be difficult, it is is simpler and fairer to count them in their last town of domicile. Connecticut is among 22 states where felons lose their voting rights during incarceration and for a period of time after they are released, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maine and Vermont, felons never lose their right to vote, even during their incarceration.