LAFAYETTE, La. — A voter registration event is aimed at educating formerly incarcerated individuals know about their voting rights and stress the importance of letting their voices be heard, no matter their past.
The event is organized by Voice of the Experienced, a grassroots organization established in 2004 with a mission is to ensure that past offenders are aware of their rights.
Officials with VOTE tell KATC they've helped more than 1,000 people who have spent time in jail get registered and say that for many, they are simply unaware they are eligible to even participate in elections.
Chad Landry is a a former inmate and now is a member of VOTE. He shares his own personal experience with the voting process.
Landry also didn't even realize he could vote until five and a half years after his release. Now, he is dedicated to helping others navigate the voting process, emphasizing the importance of awareness and empowerment.
"A lot of people don’t know they have the right to vote and when we explain to them they get excited they get happy and it’s amazing to be able to sit down with them and the process and making people feel whole again,” Landry says.
Landry also tells KATC that for those who serve time, after their release it takes them a while to adjust to the day to day expectations.
"The whole experience of being incarcerated is dehumanizing, so the whole process is geared to make you feel less than, like you worthless like you not a member of society. So when you get out we still have the same mindsets and we don’t realize we have rights that we are people, that our voice so matter," Landry says.
According to the Voice of the Experience website, if you are a formally incarcerated person, you are still able to register to vote if you are 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and resident in Louisiana. People convicted of a felony must be either be:
- No longer serving a sentence, or
- On Probation, or
- On parole for over 5 years.
- The only people who are barred are either in prison, or actively on parole for less than 5 years.
Here's what VOTE officials tell us you need to do to register:
You must register in the parish you call home.
If you were never registered, you can get registered just like anyone else.
If you were previously registered, and spent time in prison, you will need a Voter Eligibility Certificate from any local Probation and Parole office. Bring that form to your local parish Registrar’s office and you can register online, and bring in the Certificate, or you can fill out a registration form at the same time you bring in the certificate. If you have any problems getting your forms, call (504) 571-9599.
If you were sentenced to a probation sentence, it does not impact your current voter registration (if you are a registered voter), and you will not need any extra paperwork to get registered.
You can also register at the Office of Motor Vehicles if you need to stop in for your driving or ID tasks.
This voter registration event continues through Friday, October 4; it's open from 10:30am to 1:30pm daily at the parole office located at 237 W. Willow Street, Lafayette.
