Candidate forum at Springfield prison highlights voting rights behind bars

Nick Deml, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections, speaks during a candidate forum at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield on Friday, October 25. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

SPRINGFIELD—A first of its kind forum last week put three candidates for statewide office in front of prospective voters, who happen to be residents of Southern State Correctional Facility.

The event celebrated Vermont’s distinction as one of only three jurisdictions, alongside Maine and Washington D.C., that allows its incarcerated population to vote.

“I’m proud of this both as an administrator of this system, and as a Vermonter,” said Nick Deml, the Vermont Department of Corrections Commissioner, kicking off the forum.

U.S. Rep Becca Balint, D-Vt, U.S. Senate candidate Gerald Malloy, and Democratic gubernatorial challenger Esther Charlestin answered pre-written questions in the Springfield prison visiting room during the one hour forum.

“I wanted to be part of the decision making,” said D.C., one of about 20 incarcerated people who attended, describing his reason for voting.

Current Department of Corrections policy requires reporters to refer to incarcerated people by their initials or first names only if interviews have been facilitated by department staff, unless special approval is given. The department did not grant an exception to interviews at the candidate forum.

In the past, VTDigger has interviewed incarcerated people directly using instant messaging, phone calls, video calls and letters.

U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, center, speaks during a candidate forum at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield on Friday, October 25. Also participating are democratic gubernatorial candidate Esther Charlestin, left, and Gerald Malloy, right, republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

While incarcerated people in Vermont have voting rights, access can still be a challenge. Prisons aren’t polling places, and prison residents can’t typically meet candidates to decide who to vote for.

Data from 2018 indicated that about one-third of people serving felony time in Vermont were registered to vote, and 8% of the prison population voted in the general election. A department of corrections spokesperson said they were unaware of more recent data.

About 4 million people in the United States can’t vote due to their legal record, according to Kristen Budd, a research analyst at The Sentencing Project, a prison reform nonprofit that’s partnered with the Vermont Department of Corrections on voter rights work.

“We were trying to figure out what’s working and what’s not,” Budd said of her work in Vermont.

The forum was one of the nonprofit’s recommendations, according to Budd, though the department of corrections had worked on the idea independently as well.

Esther Charlestin, democratic candidate for Vermont governor, speaks during a candidate forum at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield on Friday, October 25. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Incarcerated individuals both in and out of state can vote by mail with ballots tailored to candidates at their last permanent residence, rather than a prison address. Typically, corrections staff can open incoming mail, searching for contraband. That presented a problem this year, when some people lodged at Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport had their ballots photocopied and return envelopes inspected by prison staff, inhibiting their ability to vote.

According to the department, the incident was isolated and has since been resolved. Still, it highlights the challenge incarcerated people face in voting as citizens would outside prison.

Before the forum, J.B., who is lodged at Southern State, said he wanted to ask the candidates about the laws that punish people for violations of furlough, a form of release that is under the supervision of the corrections department. He’d joined the prison’s newly formed debate team, and described learning about Scandinavia’s more progressive criminal justice system — a future debate topic, he said. The more people incarcerated, he suggested, the higher the cost.

“Taxpayers would want to know,” J.B. said.

But the three present candidates focused attention on larger scale topics like criminal justice reform, physical and mental health care access, reentry housing and substance use disorder treatment. They spoke to their platforms and fielded questions from a moderator based on questions submitted by incarcerated people prior to the event. The specifics of Vermont prison policy were not addressed.

Charlestin spoke first hand about the downstream impact of prisons, noting that she has had incarcerated family members.

“I’ve seen and felt the pressure it can be for families,” she said.

Inmates take notes as they listen during a candidate forum at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield on Friday, October 25. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Balint touched on the country’s “dubious distinction” of incarcerating more people than any other nation.

“We have incarcerated so many nonviolent offenders,” she said, arguing for more “diversion” opportunities for people to avoid jail time.

Gerald Malloy, the only Republican candidate present, said he wanted to bring back stronger “deterrents” to prevent people from committing crimes.

“Move away from progressive prosecutors and catch and release,” he said.

Incarcerated individuals say local issues matter most

While the candidates spoke of the way they could use political office to help people in prisons, the incarcerated people VTDigger interviewed said they wanted to hear more about the issues regularly affecting their lives.

In an interview after the forum, R.J., who’s incarcerated at the Springfield prison, said the candidates didn’t address the issue he cared most about, specifically “price gouging” for incarcerated people.

In prison, incarcerated people use tablets supplied by the state to communicate with friends and relatives. On these devices, they’re constantly confronted with microtransactions. Messages cost a quarter to send and video calls are a quarter per minute. Residents also pay to view pictures shared by family, listen to music, or play games.

The canteen is also too expensive, according to R.J., with people forced to pay inflated prices for things like ramen and other snacks.

Gerald Malloy, republican candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a candidate forum at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield on Friday, October 25. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

Some of the national issues discussed struck R.J. as a distraction.

“I think they need to not focus on the border,” he said, referencing Malloy’s talk of “closing” the United States’ borders.

Messages about increasing punishment for crime also didn’t resonate. Instead, R.J. suggested crimes happen regardless of the consequences because they come from a place of desperation. “From an inmate’s point of view, if there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said.

D.C. echoed that idea, arguing that crime would be reduced more effectively by addressing the upstream factors that lead people to break the law.

“Ninety percent of crimes are just people trying to get by,” he said.

Like R.J., D.C. cited the cost of being in prison as a primary issue. Jobs inside are scarce, he said, and only pay a dollar per day. If you don’t have family to put money on your books, he said, it can be near impossible to pay for commissary and tablet fees.

“I don’t have anybody,” he said, “And I have to pay for my kids.”

Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hibbert moderates a candidate forum at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield on Friday, October 25. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger

For D.C., one of the issues impacting him most is staffing shortages at the Springfield prison.

“(Correctional officers) just did two 16-hour shifts and now they’re upset,” he said, describing the situation. “They take it out on us.”

Though the department of corrections has chipped away at its staffing gaps, some staff are still being called in on days off and working longer days.

D.C. had already cast his ballot, but said he still valued the opportunity to listen to the candidates.

Asked about the underwhelming turnout, he shrugged. Vermont may allow people incarcerated to vote, but barriers still exist.

“In my unit, I was the only guy that came,” he said. “They didn’t do a good job getting the word out.”

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Candidate forum at Springfield prison highlights voting rights behind bars

Incarcerated individuals say local issues matter most

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