Sasha Abramsky

Sasha Abramsky on the road for Conned

The event in Baltimore yesterday evening was small, but to the point. We discussed Maryland's disenfranchisement system -- the state's permanent denial of voting rights to ex-felons was, a few years back, replaced by a long waiting period. In recent months, there was a legislative push to abandon the waiting period, and to let people on parole vote. The bill attracted strong opposition, not least from Republican Governor Ehrlich. And, in the end, it went down to defeat.

This was a shame, since many tens of thousands of Maryland residents would have been enfranchised had it passed. And, in an era in which many people seem to be walking away from the political process, one would think that state legislatures would be looking at any and all ways to increase political participation.

When I reported Conned I was amazed by the scale of disenfranchisement -- both the literal disenfranchisement triggered by felony records and, more generally, the sense of cultural disenfranchisement in poor communities. Voting seems no longer to be a standard form of civic participation, but, increasingly, something of an anomaly in many neighborhoods. It's a rather tragic state of affairs, since, as several of my sources pointed out to me, to a large degree voting is "the coin of the realm," an entry into a far larger set of political institutions and, quite simply, a basic way to gets one voice heard.

I'm in D.C. for the next day. I'll spend the rest of today preparing my speech for tomorrow.

It's hard work being on the road... You certainly get the full roller coaster of emotions. I miss being home with my family, and I'm also feeling slightly ragged. But it's definitely a way to meet interesting people and get the discussions going around my book.

I watched Michael Moore's documentary "The Big One," last night, about his experiences on his book tour. It's funny. The angst is the same, the chaos of the road is the same. But, of course, I don't have the TV cameras and the celeb status to worry about.... Maybe next time.

Till tomorrow.

Sasha Abramsky.

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Posted at 12:14 PM, May 09, 2006 in Civil Rights | Democracy | Voting Rights
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