In advance of the upcoming 2024 presidential election, The Marshall Project surveyed incarcerated people across the U.S. about their political leaning.
The nonprofit found people incarcerated in Oklahoma prefer former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris — a trend reflected in national poll findings.
In a set of two surveys, one before Harris took President Joe Biden’s place in the race and one after, people in Oklahoma prisons and jails picked Trump as their top candidate. The number of people who chose Trump decreased by eight percentage points after Harris entered the race. Meanwhile, support for a democratic nominee increased by 20 percentage points.
The Marshall Project surveyed 54,000 people in 785 prisons and jails in 45 states and the District of Columbia.
Oklahoma was one of the seven states with the highest number of people choosing to participate in the survey, but Oklahoma also has one of the highest incarceration rates in the nation.
In the surveys, respondents were asked questions about the framing of the elections or why they picked a specific candidate.
“As a woman in prison and a mother of a child who was murdered, the juvenile reasoning of ‘cop versus felon’ is irritating,” a white woman incarcerated at Dr. Eddie Warrior Correctional Center wrote. “Not all felons are guilty and not all cops (criminal justice workers) are innocent. I believe the gap between the two just keeps getting smaller.” She said she would vote for Harris.
“I would like a convicted felon in the White House because he would change some of the punishments that are over-sentenced,” said a Black man incarcerated at Great Plains Correctional Center who would vote for Donald Trump.
People with felony records are less likely to show up at the polls, even after they regain the right to vote.
New laws, in Oklahoma and beyond, and a changing public opinion about disenfranchisement are combatting a history of exclusion.
Earlier this year, Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 1629. People convicted of a felony no longer have to serve the length of their entire original sentence before voting if they receive a pardon or commutation.
This adds Oklahoma to a list of 14 other states with similar restrictions, according to The Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy organization working to reduce the number of people behind bars.
The new law will go into effect in January, following mass commutation in 2019 when hundreds of Oklahomans’ sentences were reduced to misdemeanors.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
