This year’s midterm elections couldn’t be more vital. This year, a trip to the ballot box will assure that Democrats continue to hold the majority in the Senate and the House, decide on issues as important as a person’s right to bodily autonomy, and overhaul archaic laws that disproportionately impact the lives of people of color.
As reported by USA TODAY, Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont have put slavery on the ballot in 2022. Although the 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery in 1865, it allowed the practice for those who were punished for a crime—resulting in legal, unpaid forced labor in U.S. prisons.
According to Vera, “a minimum of $2 billion and as much as $14 billion a year in wages is stolen from incarcerated people for the enrichment of private companies, state-owned entities, and correctional agencies.”
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Criminal justice reform advocates suggest either eliminating all forms of forced labor for those in prison or, at the very least, raising the minimum wage.
In Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas, inmates are paid nothing for their labor, Vera reports, while Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, and Rhode Island have all abolished it. Currently, more than 20 states have joined the movement to end the slavery of incarcerated people.
Next up for voters this November will be deciding whether or not to decriminalize marijuana and even some psychedelics.
Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota all have ballot initiatives on the legalization of weed for residents age 21 or older.
Missouri’s marijuana initiative not only asks voters to decide on legalization for residents over 21, but also about allowances for those convicted of nonviolent marijuana-related offenses to have their criminal records automatically expunged.
Colorado, where marijuana is medically and recreationally legal, has an initiative asking voters to decide on expanding current laws to include psychedelic plants and fungi (including mescaline) to be considered natural medicines.
Abortion is a critical ballot initiative in several states.
California, Kentucky, and Vermont are deciding on whether or not to follow in the footsteps of Kansas and reject an attempt to amend the state constitution and strip residents in those states of the right to abortion care.
This month, a coalition of abortion rights advocates in Michigan has asked the state Supreme Court to overrule a state regulatory board and put their initiative to secure the right to choose on the ballot in November.
In more conservative states, such as Kentucky, voters are being asked to decide on restricting abortion completely, and a ballot initiative in Montana has voters deciding on whether or not to support the “born alive measure.”
Montana’s proposed initiative states that infants born alive at any stage of development are legal persons and therefore “require medical care to be provided” following “an induced labor, cesarean section, attempted abortion, or another method.” A violation of the measure comes with a $50,000 fine and/or 20 years in prison.
Also at stake in this year’s midterms are minimum wage raises—the federal minimum remains $7.25 and has not been increased in nearly half of the states since 2009—and Medicaid eligibility.
Nevada voters have the opportunity to decide on raising the state’s minimum wage from $9.50 to $12.00 per hour, while South Dakota could give adults aged 18 to 65 who earn less than 133% of the federal poverty level the opportunity to receive Medicaid, USA TODAY reports.
