STATEMENT FROM THE CULINARY UNION REGARDING AB181:
The Culinary Union supports AB181.
Mass incarceration over the past 40 years, which disproportionally affects people of color, has led to the disenfranchisement of 6.1 million Americans , including many Nevadans.
Of these 6.1 million Americans who have been disenfranchised, only a minority are currently in prison or jail. In fact, more than half are disenfranchised due to state laws that restrict voting rights even after completion of sentences, like here in Nevada.
This is unacceptable. Disenfranchising an entire class of citizens is deeply problematic to a democratic society and counterproductive to effective reentry.
Ex-felons are not broken people unworthy of the right to vote, rather, they are members of our communities and families who deserve to have their voices heard in the political process.
- Geoconda Arguello-Kline, Secretary-Treasurer for the Culinary Union