prison voting

Michael Parker has been on a voter registration drive for three years.

The magic number is 150, the number of registered voters required to petition the state for departmental rule changes. Up until this year, interest has been sparse.

Wednesday that changed, when about 200 inmates at the Maine State Prison registered to vote. Many of them had not been registered before. The Warren prison holds just under 1,000 inmates.

Maine is one of two states that allows the incarcerated to vote, along with Vermont.

About 200 Maine State Prison inmates registered to vote Wednesday at a program organized by the Portland NAACP. Click here for more on the event.

The inmates stand out from other voters in that corrections reform is a top concern. Beyond that, their priorities are similar to most Americans. They care about health care, the Iraq War and the economy.

Charles Jones of Portland is serving a 70-year sentence for murder. He’s a former vice president of the prison’s NAACP branch. He follows politics closely, eyeing candidates who support rehabilitation programs as a means of reducing recidivism.