Census Bureau’s Way of Counting of Prisoners Erodes “One Person, One Vote”
Since its first count in 1790, the Census Bureau has counted incarcerated people as residents of wherever they’re incarcerated at the time of the census — as opposed to where they call home — even though in 48 of 50 states, they cannot vote in that community, or anywhere. In effect, this transfers each prisoner’s vote to another voter in the district, undermining the "one person, one vote" principle of American democracy.