Elena Moore and Charlotte West for NPR:
An estimated 4 million U.S. citizens are unable to cast a ballot, according to a recent report from The Sentencing Project.
It further estimates that 1 in 22 Black Americans of voting age can’t vote, three and a half times that of other Americans.
Johnny Le’Dell Pippins, 55, is one of them. He received clemency from Illinois and was recently released from prison after 27 years. He isn’t allowed to cast a ballot this year.
Pippins is working on his PhD at the University of Iowa here in Iowa City after earning is bachelor’s and master’s in prison. He can’t vote here.
Abolition: Yes! 