The midterm election is just over a week away and community groups are working overtime to get people voting. Among those is a group once considered ineligible to vote.
Marlon Chamberlin sits in a small booth at a McDonald’s on Chicago’s west side. It’s his makeshift office. Here, he meets those recently incarcerated. He’s with FORCE, Fighting to Overcome Records and Create Equality. Chamberlin’s job is to basically pay it forward. He talks to them about everything from job searching to leadership training. Part of his work includes talking about his past. Specifically what happened in September of 2002
"I have a federal offense. I was arrested with conspiracy with intent to distribute. I was sentenced to 240 months. The Fair Sentencing Act passed in 2007 0r 2008. So I ended up serving 10.5 years," said Chamberlin.
He was in federal prison when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. Chamberlin watched the event on one of six tvs in his unit. While he was happy about it, the political process was something he didn’t know or care much about.
"I didn’t believe voting mattered. Because of my perception, I guess that at the time my perception at that time was that things were the way they were and that’s just the way it was. I didn’t see how things could be different or how the mayor or certain state representative could change things in my community. That connection wasn’t there," said Chamberlin.
Chamberlain now understands that local lawmakers decide whether money gets allocated to ex-offender programs and how sentencing guidelines are outlined. When Chamberlain was in a halfway house, a FORCE member talked to him about his rights. Specifically that ex-felons could vote. In several states if you’re convicted of a felony, you lose the right to vote. Permanently. But in Illinois an ex-offender can vote upon release. Chamberlain didn’t know that. He says lots of people with records don’t know that either. Which is why now he’s working overtime.
Tucked away between a dead end road and railroad tracks on the city’s southwest side, Chamberlain talks to a group from the Chicagoland Prison Outreach. It’s part classroom, part bible study and part welding work study. Chamberlain starts the discussion with a question.
"When was the last time anybody here has voted? While I was incarcerated I was able to vote. Because I was told you’re a felon and you can’t vote. But I was in the penal system and I voted," said Chamberlin.
At the Cook county jail, inmates awaiting trial can vote. They’re given applications for absentee ballots. The board of elections goes through their paperwork the same way it processed tens of thousands of new applications received this year. At the jail, many are rejected, mainly because addresses can’t be verified. Out of the more than 9,500 inmates requesting ballots only 1,300 were deemed eligible. At the vocational center, a person who goes by the name of Kris says even though he can vote he’s not interested.
"I never cared who was in office. Well I wouldn’t even know who to vote for," said Kris. "You know who to vote for, man. You gotta do some homework," said another participant in the Chicagoland Prison Outreach group.
Chamberlain says he too has homework to do. He cautions the class about political stereotypes. Like that all African Americans vote the Democratic ticket.
"Because you got democrats who won’t do nothing. I don’t believe in befriending politicians. You know, no permanent friends, no permanent enemies. In his situation, I want to meet with him because there are some things he can do to push his alderman to get what he wants to see done. But it’s not based on ya’ll best friends," said Chamberlin.
Chamberlain says the room they’re sitting in, his presence, and really their future came from some type of political action.
"This is a good program. So what if people don’t vote for that elected official who signed off on this? Then this program goes away," said Chamberlin.
But Kris does not care.
"You’re not showing me why I should vote. You might tell me but you’re not showing me. All I see is a lot of squad cars coming around. Our neighborhood, our community, how it was in the past, it was better than how it is now. At least we had stuff we could do. Like we didn’t have to stand on the block to have fun. We actually had places. The city is so fou-fou right now. The city ain’t right," said Kris.
As Kris is certain he won’t vote, Chamberlains is just as certain that Kris could be a FORCE leader.
"He’s 23 years old. He’s in college. So there’s a lot of potential for him to go back and to be able to influence a lot of the other young men in his community," said Chamberlin.
Back at the McDonalds, Chamberlain meets up with FORCE worker Teleza Rodgers.
"I am an ex-felon. I have two convictions in my background. One is delivery with intent to sell (can’t remember if it was heroin or cocaine) and retail theft," said Rodgers.
She covers the city’s North Lawndale neighborhood. Rodgers and Chamberlin say their work can sometimes feel like it’ll never bear fruit. For Rodgers, it’s especially hard to quash the misconception that ex-felons can’t vote.
"Especially if you have a record. Because people who don’t know us are making decisions about our lives or livelihoods and our neighborhoods. They don’t live where we live at. And they tend to have an ear to that. Like you right because they never walked through here. And I’m like yeah we can’t expect to have anyone do anything for us if we’re not doing it," said Rodgers.
Rodgers says there’s no way around the impact of voter representation. And that several questions on November’s ballot can directly impact ex-felons and others in Chicago. Like whether the state should increase funding for mental-health services, whether a school-funding formula for disadvantaged children should be reset, a tax for more education funding and whether to increase the minimum wage.