ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — People in jails and detention centers across the state will have an opportunity to vote in person this year thanks to a new state law.
People serving time for misdemeanors have the right to vote in Colorado. This year, they will be able to do so in person at their facilities.
"When you survey the folks that are found within jails, what they tell you is that they are also really excited to vote. They vote at really similar rates as other Coloradans when they are outside of jail. But when they are in jail, they are only voting at a small fraction of the rates that they otherwise would be," said Rep. Manny Rutinel.
Rutinel was a Colorado House sponsor of a new law that allows jails and detention centers across the state to set up voting centers for all who are eligible.
"I was really proud to sponsor Senate Bill 72 because I thought it was important for our democracy, for eligible voters, eligible Coloradans to be able to vote in county jails," said Rutinel. "Unfortunately, historically, although they had the Constitutional right, they were not given the resources they needed to be able to exercise that vote. Of course, voting is the most fundamental and sacred right in a democracy.
"In Colorado, just because you are in jail doesn't mean that you have a felony," Rutinel continued. "You could be scheduled for a hearing. You could be serving your term for a misdemeanor and in both of those cases, you have the constitutional right to be able to vote. Of course, it's essential for us to be able to allow those people to exercise that constitutional right to vote."
Incarcerated individuals to receive same voting ability
"Each of these individuals that would have this same ability out in the community, it's extremely important for us to be able to provide that to them while they are in the facility," said Lindsay Laughery, detention manager at the Adams County Detention Center.
Laughery said Adams County has facilitated mail-in voting since 2018 but they are ready to set up in-person voting for the first time this year.
"We had to assess the facility to find the best location. So we determined that our library would be a great location for this process to take place. The individuals are going to be coming down to the library, we have deputies assigned to that particular duty post that day," Laughery said. "Well, each day actually. And they will come down to the library and facilitate the escorting back and forth.
"We're very excited actually," Laugherly continued. "It was a bit daunting at first because we have a lot of people that we want to get through in a very short amount of time, but now that we have been able to collaborate so well with our elections department, we have a really good plan in place I think."
Leaders at the detention center say they started the early voter registration process last week to get things going for everyone interested. They have set aside an additional two days for voting due to the amount of interest they have seen.
"We have to have one day specifically set for this, we have it set for two with a third optional day just because to make sure that we get everyone seen that wants to vote in person," Laughery said.
Denver has successfully facilitated this for people in custody for a few years now, but this year is the first time the program has gone statewide.
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