Black Californians make up only 5% of the 1 Percentage of Voting Eligible Population Rate Per 100,000 of Voting Eligible Population state’s general population, but 28% of individuals incar- This racial disparity remained significant after con- cerated in state prisons.4 They are incarcerated in state trolling for factors relevant to officer decision-mak- prisons at nine times the rate of white Cal. [...] Imprisonment Rate of Californians by be arrested than white individuals in all but four Race and Ethnicity, 2022 counties in California, according to research con- ducted by the Public Policy Institute of California. [...] 9 to 2014 in Oakland, California, 60% of the stops California should safeguard democratic rights and not were of Black residents. [...] 2 Rate Per 100,000 Residents Supporting Voting Rights Improves Public California Can Strengthen its Democracy by Safety Restoring the Right to Vote Research shows that an opportunity to participate in Since 1997, 26 states and the District of Columbia have democracy has the potential to reduce one’s perceived expanded voting rights to people living with felony con- status as an “outsider.” The act. [...] Almost 60% of voters - roughly continued to restrict the right to vote after incarceration 10 million people - said “yes” to re-enfranchising their were found to have a higher likelihood of experiencing fellow citizens who were on parole.16 Yet, California con- a subsequent arrest compared to individuals in states tinues to disenfranchise an entire group of their citizens: who had their voting rig.
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