How poor and working-class voters navigate an electoral system that doesn't serve them

The 2024 US elections are just three months away, and with polls showing a tight race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, the outcome may come down to voter turnout—and data show that  there is a direct correlation between income level and voter turnout. As Katherine Hapgood recently wrote in an article for the Washington City Paper, "Of the roughly 35 million Americans living at or below the $50,000 threshold widely accepted as 'low income,' just about half reported participating in any of the past five presidential elections, according to an analysis of 2020 U.S. Census data. By comparison, 86 percent of Americans with incomes of $150,000 or higher reported casting a ballot during the same time period." Many poor and working-class people understandably feel that the electoral system does not represent them and their interests, but the results of elections continue to directly and indirectly impact their lives and communities. In this special #election2024 episode of Rattling the Bars, TRNN editor-in-chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with RTB host Mansa Musa and David Schultz, a criminal reform and social justice advocate, about why elections still matter for all of us, and how poor and working-class people, and people impacted by the prison system, can navigate the fraught world of electoral politics to get what they and their communities need.

Read the transcript of this episode here.

Studio Production: Cameron Granadino, David Hebden
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Audio Post-Production: Alina Nehlich

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