Speak Your Piece

Shoresides accepts opinion essays on a range of topics for our “Speak Your Piece” series which is published as text online or aired as audio as part of our podcast. We’re particularly interested in essays that share ideas or issues from the coastal region from perspectives not often heard in our traditional media. Written essays typically run from 400 to 1,200 words and audio essays from 3-4 minutes, but drafts of any length will be considered. We will arrange recording for audio editions.Submission guidelines: Please share one sentence at the top of your submission that tells us who you are and how your opion essay is connected to the coastal region. Also, be sure to include annotations for all assertions and attributions made in your essay. All submissions must be original, exclusive to Shoresides. Contact us at shoresides@workingnarratives.org

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Speak Your Piece

Felony Voter Disenfranchisement

November 09, 2020 • Shoresides

"We are all We The People. When you tell me that I can't participate in an election, you telling me I'm not a part of We The People...that makes me feel like you are still oppressing me, and you still seeing me as three-fifths of a human."

Daquan Peters is the Second Chance Alliance Coordinator at LINC Inc, a nonprofit in Wilmington, North Carolina focused on reentry for formerly incarcerated people and youth empowerment. As a someone who was formerly incarcerated himself and is on federal probation for a felony conviction, Peters talks about voter disenfranchisement and why it's vital to get the right to vote back.

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My name is Daquan Peters. I'm an employee with LINC, Inc., which is a nonprofit reentry program here in Wilmington, North Carolina. We deal with anything dealing with criminal justice reform and re-entry and social justice issues.

You know, I've been in and out of the system pretty much over half of my life. I'll be 45 in January and been in the system over 25 years of my life. And each time, I'm not going to say that I didn't do it. But the time didn't fit the crime. And the reason why the time didn't fit the crime is because of who I am. And the reason why it's designed to do that to a person that looks such as me - it's for a specific reason. For us to continuously stay beneath them - the system.

Take for instance, this year's election. Once you are convicted of a felony in the state of North Carolina, your rights are taken away from you for a period of time. And that period of time is that term of imprisonment. So once you complete that term of imprisonment, whether it's probation, parole - your rights to vote is automatically restored back to you.

I couldn't participate in this year's election because I'm on federal probation. I have a felony probation and I can't participate in this year's election. And that is felony voter disenfranchisement. It's pretty much telling me that I'm less than a citizen of the United States of America if I can't participate in its elections.

Although every day I go to work. Every paycheck ,you taxing me, federally and state. And I can't choose who is getting ready to be the next president of the United States and that's going to be able to make decisions for the country that I live in.

On a local level, I can't vote for the superintendent of a school that's going to be making decisions for my kids and my grandkids. I can't participate in an election for the mayor, the governor, or a prosecutor or a D.A. or a judge. I can't participate in any of these elections. We are all We The People. When you tell me that I can't participate in an election., ou telling me I'm not a part of We The People. And when you tell me that I'm not a part of We The People, but you could tax me for my money, then that makes me feel like you are still oppressing me. And you still seeing me as three-fifths of a human.

You have to care because you have to live. Once you've been subjected to the worst conditions that a human being can be subjected to, then your emotions towards a system is pretty much numb. Although I might be numb emotionally, consciously I know a change needs to be had. And the only way that change can be had as if we participate and we organize and we have plans of action to make sure that equal protection of the law goes to everybody. Equal justice goes to everybody. Fair treatment goes to everybody. Allow us to participate in these elections; give us our full citizenship back.

You know, there's been a lawsuit filed; it's against the state of North Carolina for felony voter disenfranchisement. Upon the lawsuit being filed, proceedings going on in the court, a panel of judges made a preliminary order that, okay, we're not going to say that everybody that's on felony probation can vote, but what we're are going to do is these particular people right here that are on extended probation due to unpaid fines and fees can participate in the election can vote. As far to my knowledge, it's still going on. It's gonna have to go to trial.

It's just a different day and time. You just have more conscious younger people, and they're tired of seeing their fathers, they're tired of saying their mothers and their uncles and their brothers and granddaddy's just get done by the system. We are not on a level playing field and you have to ask yourself why.

We are not asking for anything that's not already ours by nature, by birthright. We're just asking for you to treat us as human beings; we're asking for equal treatment. So what I'm saying is just do the right thing. If you want us to do right, you do right too.