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Who do California prisoners want to win the US election?

Incarcerated people in California can’t vote, but that doesn't mean they aren’t tracking electoral politics as closely as many of us on the outside are.

In this episode, Ear Hustle’s inside team reveals the winner of its San Quentin presidential poll, while the outside team travels to the Central California Women’s Facility to see how people there would vote, if they had the opportunity.

Here are some of their findings …

Find out more by listening to Ear Hustle on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds!

Why mock elections in prison matter

Juan Marino Haines, 67, is a journalist who is incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison. He is editor-in-chief of the publication Solitary Watch, which is written by San Quentin prisoners.

Credit: Getty Images
β€œRight now, neither. Trump is just … I like his policies, but he's too racist to me. Kamala is too far out there. She's too far left, in my opinion.”

Every election year, Haines holds a mock presidential election within the facility, where they distribute a ballot to every cell.

Haines explains: “One of the reasons why I work so hard to make sure these mock elections occur is because I want people who are incarcerated, who feel thrown away, feel like they're a part of something really important.

“To me, it's huge when I talk to people during every election, when they vote, many tell me that they've never voted in their lives, and the fact that they participate in the mock election makes them feel like they're a part of something.”

What do San Quentin prisoners make of Trump and Harris?

The results of the San Quentin election were not to be revealed until late October, but the Ear Hustle team couldn’t wait that long – so they took a straw poll in the prison yard. The responses from the prisoners were mixed:

“I've been a Republican since before I came to prison and I was a Republican now, I believe in what the Republicans stand for,” said one prisoner.

“Trump, because he's honest. He says what he has in mind,” said another.

“I want to vote for Kamala Harris. She is fresh blood, and she is definitely not Trump.”

“I would definitely vote for Donald Trump. I think he made the economy great when he was the president, and I think he'll do it again.”

“Kamala, for sure, Donald Trump's a mad man. He might be the one to blow up the whole planet and give him the chance.”

“Sister Kamala. Trump equals trauma.”

“Right now, neither. Trump is just … I like his policies, but he's too racist to me. Kamala is too far out there. She's too far left, in my opinion.”

And what about the Central California Women’s Facility (CCFW)?

Ear Hustle’s inside team also asked prisoners in the CCWF the same question: if you could vote for president, who would you vote for?

Credit: Getty Images

“Trump. I just like him. They say he's racist, or whatever the
case may be. I just feel like he's fair.”

“I don't like Trump, so almost anybody that goes against him is going to be better.”

“For me, [Kamala’s] biggest platform is women's reproduction rights, and that's something that has affected my family. So anybody who's willing to change that has my vote.”

“If I had to pick and choose, I would go with [Kamala Harris], because she could be the first woman as president.”

“I might have to go with Trump. But I'm not really sure. There are pros and cons. Trump did a lot in office. His business strategies helped our different communities, especially the incarcerated community.”

So, who won the San Quentin poll?

It proved difficult to get many San Quentin prisoners to engage in the poll. Partly this was due to an indifference to the candidates. But they did manage to collect 201 ballots out of the total prison population of 3,400.

Interestingly, Kamala Harris came out on top of Ear Hustle’s San Quentin poll. 132 people voted for Harris, while 55 voted for Trump. The rest voted for third-party candidates.

Haines was not surprised by this early result. “At every election [in San Quentin], the Democratic party wins,” he says – despite there being many Trump fans in the facility.

Later in October, the official results of San Quentin’s mock election were

  • 341 prisoners at San Quentin returned their ballot for counting – which is around a 10% participation rate
  • 57% voted for Vice President Kamala Harris for president, while 28% voted for former President Donald Trump
  • Third party candidates RFK Jr. and Jill Stein both received 2% of the vote

If you’d like to hear more about the prison elections, you can listen to Ear Hustle on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds.