As if the Guilford County Board of Elections and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office didn’t have enough to do during the most intense and important election in the history of the United States Of America, they also have to weed through hundreds of jail inmates, see which ones are legally eligible to vote and which ones are not, and then facilitate the process while those inmates are in custody.
According to information provided by the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, in order to preserve an inmate’s voting rights while in jail, the Office has put in place a comprehensive process that helps inmates vote if they want to vote.
Along with the support from the organization You Can Vote, the Office works to assure that inmates have the resources they need to take part in the Tuesday, Nov. 5 election, as they do in other elections as well.
The voting process starts by distributing informational material throughout the housing units and kiosks in the jail. That provides details about voter eligibility, key election dates, and other important voting information, helping them make sure they’re well-informed on all aspects of the process.
According to Sheriff’s Office officials, detention officers in the jail conduct a sign-up process by going to each housing unit in the jail with a sign-up sheet. This allows those inmates who wish to vote to express their interest in doing so.
Then jail staff review the sign-up sheets as part of the eligibility verification process.
In North Carolina, that means confirming that the inmates either haven’t been convicted of a felony or that they’ve completed their sentence – including any supervised release requirements.
Once their eligibility is confirmed, the Sheriff’s Office helps register those inmates who are unregistered and requests absentee ballots from the Board of Elections Office.
Also, a bipartisan voter guide is uploaded to tablets and kiosks throughout the county’s two jails – one in downtown Greensboro and one in downtown High Point.
This provides voters behind bars with unbiased information about candidates and issues, allowing them to make informed decisions.
After the absentee ballots arrive at the county’s two jails, the Sheriff’s Office collects the inmates’ votes.
The Office sees to it that the ballots are mailed out.
Guilford County Board of Elections Director Charlie Collicutt said on Monday, Nov. 4, that he feels like the current practices and safeguards are working well.
“I’m comfortable with the process,” he said, “I feel like we have a really good system.”
Collicutt added that the current system both allows eligible inmates to vote and screens out those who legally cannot.
He also said that, if an inmate is a convicted felon who is still serving an active sentence or under supervision, they aren’t eligible to vote and are not allowed to.
However, he said, once a person has completely served all aspects of their sentence, they can vote again in this state.
Amazing!!! No wonder America is in trouble. From inmates to illegals it doesn’t matter.
But you are ok with Trump voting?
You Can Vote is a liberal nonprofit whose goal is to reach especially certain sectors of the population and register them to vote. What effort is made beyond that is unknown. Why does it appear that You Can Vote’s goal is not to reach the most informed voter? It is the writer of this opinion who believes a good citizen voter is one who is informed and desires to vote. Ferreting out people to vote merely because they are a warm body, is harmful to the country. An informed (educated) voter makes a country strong.
Uninformed voter would be the polite term for many people voting for Trump given the funny interviews you can find all over youtube.com. LOL
At least one can understand the remarks. With Harris, the listener has no idea what she said. However, it is good for a laugh.
You really don’t bring any insight or perspicacity to this forum, do you Chris?
Whoever made that law to allow convicted felons to vote is an idiot. So you mean I can go to prison for 10 years, get out on probation for 5 years, and then go vote. Did they take into consideration the word recidivism. So after he’s released and is allowed to vote. Then he’s arrested multiple times for felony charges and is currently housed in a local facility awaiting a trial by jury. Is still eligible to vote. Sad times folks.
Only a felony conviction takes away your voting privilege. You have to be a citizen also. These facts don’t determine what actually happens, though.
The most informed voter does not need to be reached, hint the words ” most informed”. If they are most informed, they are more likely to be already registered to vote. I believe the article said the inmates are asked if they want to exercise their right to vote, so no one is being “ferreting out”, as you put it.