Cleotis Lewis, right, and Raul Vidaurri fill out their ballots for the 2024 presidential election on Oct. 30, 2024, at the Denver Detention Center. The Denver Elections Division held in-person voting for people in custody at the jail, as counties across Colorado are now required to do under a new law. (Lindsey Toomer/Colorado Newsline)
While Cleotis Lewis has previously lost his right to vote while serving a sentence for a felony conviction, he was able to vote in person in the 2024 election from the Denver Detention Center, where he is incarcerated, on Wednesday.
“Now it feels like I count,” Lewis said to reporters. “Being a Black man in America, that means a lot.”
At 36 years old, Raul Vidaurri voted for the first time in his life from jail. He said it’s a “breathtaking” feeling.
“I’m very blessed to be able to vote, and to be accepted,” Vidaurri said.
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The Denver Elections Division held in-person voting for people in custody at the jail Wednesday, registering them and providing information on candidates and ballot issues compiled by the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. Voters also receive a nonpartisan voter guide from the League of Women Voters.
In Colorado, people in custody on pre-trial status are eligible to vote. So is anyone serving time for a misdemeanor conviction. People with felony convictions lose their right to vote only while they are serving time for that felony conviction, and they regain their right to vote once their sentence is complete.
Kyle Giddings, civic engagement coordinator at the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, worked as an election judge in the jail on Wednesday. He said many of the people he talked to had no idea they would be able to vote while in custody.
“We’re running into people that are first-time voters, that never knew they had the right to vote until today, and that is always an empowering thing,” Giddings said. “They’ve been incredibly grateful, and I think people are just really passionate about making sure their voices are heard in their communities, and we see it every single time we come through.”
Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López said his job is not to pass judgment on someone who is incarcerated, but to make sure all eligible voters are able to cast a ballot with ease “like everybody else.”
“Folks who are often in custody or confined are there because they cannot afford their freedom, and folks who are confined are often excluded from the rest of society,” López said. “These are not folks that do not care about the future of this country. These are folks who want to have a voice in the election, that want to vote, and as long as that’s the case, we’re going to make sure that they receive a ballot.”
Counties around the state have looked to Denver as a model as they implement in-person voting in jails for the first time this year under a new Colorado law. López said he’s proud to know voting in jails will now happen across the state. The city held in-person voting in jails for the 2020 presidential election, too, though the process was slightly different because of COVID-19.
The Denver clerk’s office hosted training sessions to help other county clerks across the state get a grasp on how to implement in-person voting in jails. Giddings said they set up mock jail-based voting scenarios, including eligibility checks and various situations that might come up. He said they trained over 75 employees with clerks offices around the state.
Eric Jordan appreciated the opportunity to have his voice heard in an election and that making a mistake that led to incarceration isn’t held against him, he said. His grandfather served in World War II and always wanted him to vote, but because of felony convictions at a young age, he hadn’t been able to prior to this election, he said.
“I’m making him proud today,” he said.
Jordan said he “loves this country” and he wants people to put their differences aside and “start moving forward toward running this country in a great way.”
“I’m looking for somebody to run the country that’s for unity and bringing the country together and not dividing it,” Jordan said.
Jerome Whitfield said that being able to vote while incarcerated shows that “it’s not that hard” for someone to go to their local voting center and participate in an election.
“It makes me feel part of the community while being incarcerated,” Whitfield said. “It shows that my voice still matters out there … it makes you feel a part of something else still.”
Denver will hold another round of in-person voting at the jail Thursday, though incarcerated voters can submit a mail ballot at any point before 7 p.m. on Election Day just like other voters.
“People that are involved in the system are the closest to the problem and understand the solutions better than most people,” Giddings, referring to the justice system, said. “There’s so many criminal justice issues on the ballot this year that it’s important that they get to have their voices heard.”
Proposition 128 is a statutory “truth in sentencing” measure on Colorado ballots this year that would make people convicted of certain violent crimes ineligible for parole until they have served at least 85% of their sentences.
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