The Legal Aid Society, New York Civil Liberties Union, Latino Justice, VOCAL-NY, Freedom Agenda, elected officials, impacted New Yorkers and others, ahead of the general election, rallied outside of the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) to demand greater access to early voting for people incarcerated in City jails, as mandated by New York State law, which states that “polling places for early voting shall be located so that voters in the county have adequate and equitable access.” 

Advocates called on the BOE to open at least one early voting location on Rikers Island, or for the establishment of in-person absentee voting at the facility, as is currently provided within each BOE’s borough offices. New Yorkers held in pre-trial detention, serving a city sentence, or remanded on parole, which accounts for 90 percent of the jail population, are legally entitled to vote yet are deprived of this fundamental right due to the BOE’s failure to ensure access to early voting. 

The lack of voting access in City jails, where more than 88 percent of people incarcerated are Black and Latinx, effectively lowers voter participation in communities of color and disproportionately impacts people in those communities. It leaves thousands of eligible voters without the option to vote early – the only option to vote in person for those who are currently incarcerated.

“Our clients and all those incarcerated at Rikers who are eligible to vote – a whopping 90 percent of the local jail population – have the legal right to vote and must be granted early access to cast their ballots come election time,” said Anthony Posada, Supervising Attorney of the Community Justice Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “By refusing to establish early voting locations at these facilities, the BOE is blatantly disenfranchising an entire population of eligible voters. We call on BOE to immediately open these voting sites to ensure that our clients have a role in democracy.”