I ndependent V oters are the infusion of new blood that our body politic needs most today. Heather Howard 13 May 2001 C ensus 2000 revealed numerous blacks and Latinos had moved from the city to the country, reversing previous trends. This switch wasn't because of preference, but because they are incarcerated, counted as residents of rural towns that house prisons.
Prisoners skew income statistics lower, enhancing towns' candidacy for poverty-directed funds.
Because voter representation is based on population, and prisons increase populations with nonvoters, prison-town residents gain political clout. States can and do manipulate this technicality to boost census totals. The impact is greater today, because prison populations are six times greater than 30 years ago. For the past five years the Republican congress has supported the Democratic Clinton administration in its effort to oppose and obstruct with policy, politics and prosecution the legal majority votes in more than six American states. The Republicans are fascists.