Articles & News

April 21, 2008

Teaching ex-offenders about their voting rights

By Kia Gregory, Inquirer Staff Writer

Malissa Gamble knew this audience: 40 ex-offenders about to graduate yesterday from a program designed to wean them back into society.

Once, she was one of them.

Over the last two weeks, those sitting in classroom rows inside the Mayor's Office of Reentry in Southwest Philadelphia received services that included job training, GED classes, drug counseling, family reunification and pep talks.

They will leave the program with a resume, a graduation letter, and a letter of recommendation.

Some will even leave with jobs.

And if Gamble has her way, they will leave and exercise an important right: the right to vote.

"This is a very important election," she told the graduates. "And the voice of the reentry community needs to be heard."

Pennsylvania has an estimated 25,000 ex-offenders; last year, more than 16,000 inmates were released from state prisons. Many ex-offenders have no idea that they can vote, activists such as Gamble say.

Gamble told a class a story that stresses that power.

In 2000, a coalition of civil rights groups sued the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, alleging that a law banning ex-felons from registering to vote for five years after their release was unconstitutional because it meant some ex-felons were able to vote while others were not.

That September, Commonwealth Court agreed and ruled that there was "no rational basis" for the voting restriction on released felons.

"The law was changed by one vote," Gamble said. "By one vote. So if you think your vote doesn't count, you're wrong."

Gamble, 45, has been arrested more than a dozen times. She spent 15 months in Muncy Prison for drug trafficking, robbery, and receiving stolen property.

"I was attracted to the fast life," she said. "I learned that that was the wrong way."

After her release in 2003, she started a Philadelphia-based nonprofit called A Time to Change, in which she and her team of ex-offender volunteers visit prisons, halfway houses and reentry centers to teach about their voting rights.

Gamble, a small woman with a booming voice, told the graduates that ex-offenders can vote when they are released from jail or prison, even if they are on probation or parole. They can vote while on house arrest. They can vote while in jail awaiting trial. And they can vote while serving time for a misdemeanor.

The political issues surrounding ex-offenders, Gamble said, include well-paying jobs, affordable housing, and meaningful reentry programs - in and out of prison.

"We're an important piece of the puzzle," she said. "We're coming back to the community, and if there's nothing there, we're going to do the same thing."

One of the program's graduates, Malik Ware, 35, who now lives with his mother and is a single father of two children, said he was anxious for a new start.

"At this point," said Ware, who served time for aggravated assault, "I need a job."

In the meantime, Ware plans to enroll in an educational program that will allow him to obtain his GED while earning college credit. He wants to study business management.

He registered to vote at the reentry center two weeks ago, and this year's general election will mark the first time he has voted.

"It's just time for a change," he said of the decision. "And I realize that one way to change things is to vote."

Gamble handed out voter registration cards, talked about proper ID, and passed out a signup sheet for those needing a ride on primary election day. She also advised those who did not know the location of their polling place.

"Some of us will complain about the things in our community but won't vote," Gamble said. "Nothing changes if we don't change."

Contact staff writer Kia Gregory at 215-854-2601 or kgregory@phillynews.com.