The five states where slavery is on the ballot

 157 years ago the US constitution banned slavery – where one person is the legal property of another. So why will voters in five states see slavery on the ballot?

Credit: Vox.

By: Derry Salter.

In the US, there is an exemption for slavery when it comes to convicted prisoners as involuntary servitude is a legal punishment for a crime. Tomorrow, five states will decide whether to remove these exemptions from their state constitutions and ban slavery entirely.

Three states, Colorado, Nebraska and Utah, voted in 2018 to ban all forms of slavery. Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont are next to decide.

800,000 prisoners across the US work for pennies and in seven states, they work for nothing at all.

Human rights researchers call it an ‘exploitative loophole’ which originates from the roots of the enslavement of African-Americans. After slavery was outlawed, many laws were passed that specifically targeted Black communities and forced them into prisons. Such movements are still seen today, with bias stop-and-search methods rife across the US.

According to the Innocence Project, 75% of inmates at Louisiana State Prison are Black. Some imprisoned Black Americans are forced to pick cotton and other crops on Southern plantations.

One former prisoner, Curtis Ray Davis II, served hard labour for 25 years and made $124 dollars. He said: ‘The United States of America has never had a day without codified slavery.’

After tomorrow’s election, by 2023, researchers predict a further 18 states will vote to ban slavery. California’s vote to ban slavery failed earlier this year after the state Democrats warned that it would cost more than $1.5b to pay prisoners the state’s minimum wage - $15 hour.

Although Oregon will be voting on the matter tomorrow, its State Sheriffs’ Association oppose banning this form of slavery as it would lead to ‘unintended consequences’ and the loss of ‘reformative programs’ in prison, which arguably ‘serve as an incentive for good behaviour.’

These five states are hoping for a better less exploitative future for those incarcerated in the US.