However, American's 1,600,000+ prisoners have been completely overlooked in the debate.

In prior census reports, our government simply counted inmates at their place of incarceration. This procedure is wrong and may even be unethical for at least two reasons. First, the practice inflates the population tally in the "host" district where the prison is located while it diminishes the population numbers in the inmates' home regions. This effectively dilutes the voting power of the cities, where most inmates were residents before incarceration, but enhances the voting influence of rural areas, the locations of almost all prisons.

Philadelphia currently has over 14,000 of its citizens in state prisons. One percent of the city's total population! The PA Department Of Corrections has an established practice of exporting these inmates to Pennsylvania's rural counties. Unless this routine is changed, the "host" counties will happily count these displaced "guests" in their census figures of the year 2000. Why is Philadelphia willingly giving away one percent of its voting power?

Second, the practice of not permitting Pennsylvania inmates to vote, yet counting them in the districts where their prisons are located, increases the voting power of those who are eligible to vote. For example, Pennsylvania, a state with 12,000,000 people, has 203 members in its House of Representatives. Therefore, each state house district is comprised of approximately 60,000 people. Some of these districts have more than one state or federal prison housing nearly 6,000 inmates. That means that almost 10% of that district's constituency are denied the right to participate in an election. This, of course, increases the power of the voters who can cast ballots. In other words, a vote from a district with a prison is worth more than a vote from an area without one. This totally destroys the concept of

One Man, One Vote,

The advantage of incorporating a penitentiary or two in one's district is the best kept secret in politics. It's the newest form of gerrymandering. There's no reason for politicians to show any regard for inmates' concerns, views or political parties. A politician might represent them, but inmates have no power. They can't vote. For the "host" district's office-holder, it's the best of all worlds!

Furthermore, blacks, Hispanics and other minorities comprise two-thirds of prison populations. Census bureau methodology that counts inmates where they are imprisoned, gives the districts the appearance of cultural diversity, without having to contend with any of the problems that racial and ethnic diversity imposes. With prisons, the area takes advantage of all the positive statistics that are of a benefit to the district without having to bear any of the liabilities.

Moreover, inmates' super-low wages lower the district's per capita income. This, in turn, paves the way for additional federal funds to be poured into the area. Those benefits, however are not spent on prisoners, but rather on extra services that are used to boost the incumbent's popularity with those who can vote. Money is thus diverting away from areas that truly need it to districts that may not deserve it.

As the United States locks up more and more of its citizens for longer periods of times, the scope of this inequity will only increase. Experts predict that America's combined prison and jail populations will top 2,000,000 by the year 2000! It's shocking that cities all over this country are not objecting where thousands of their citizens are relocated to rural areas, permitting those bodies from the cities to strengthen the rural areas' political muscle. It's indefensible that the United States, a country that has constantly lectured the world on the values of fair and honest elections, condones an unequal ballot system here at home. It's inexcusable that government policies on counting prisoners deliberately produces bogus numbers, defeating the very reason we count our citizens in the first place.

A possible solution to this injustice is to count inmates in their home counties and to permit them to vote by absentee ballot. This would parallel the procedure our government uses for military personnel, students and others who live away from "home" during the census.