WASHINGTON – Tuesday’s election will be the first of its kind, with all candidates vying for a vacant seat in the nation’s capital as they campaign behind bars.

The race is for the most unusual of vacancies in local government – a place on the district neighborhood advisory commission and a chance to represent an area of ​​amazing change and contradiction.

It’s an election to serve DC prison inmates, those at Harriet Tubman Women’s Shelter, and the new residents of the Park Kennedy Apartments – an upscale development evoking the charms of the Champs-Elysees, more than the cinder block buildings found across the street.

“My platform will serve to restore the dignity of incarcerated people so that we are no longer judged on our worst mistake,” said Joël Caston, candidate for the seat formally known as the single-member constituency 7F07.

“Imagine a single-member riding, where every voice counts, every concern is heard and every person is valued. “

Prison inmates will be allowed to vote. A polling station will also open at the Park Kennedy Apartments (1901 C Street, Southeast) from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on June 15.

A district election law now allows incarcerated criminals to vote, after Mayor Muriel E. Bowser enacted the measure late last year.

“I was a human born on the streets of this city and I survived,” said Kim Thompson, an inmate also on the ballot. “I am a human being who understands the needs of the marginalized and the less fortunate.”

The group, Neighbors for Justice, urged the DC Department of Corrections to discuss the vacancy with the inmates. The ministry posted a video on YouTube with the platforms of the candidates, as the challenge of campaigning while incarcerated meant minimal movement to campaign.

“I feel compelled to give back to a community that I have taken so much from and I think the time is right for that interaction,” Thompson said in a candidate survey released by Neighbors for Justice.

“I want to be an ANC commissioner because I believe with all my heart that it is my duty as a resident of this neighborhood,” Aaron Brown said in his poll.

“Recreation centers, boys ‘and girls’ clubs improve activities for young people, educational, religious and mental health. Keith Littlepage-El said in response to questions that would be addressed as commissioner.

“I would also support the construction of a halfway house in the city center for ex-offenders returning from the BOP; create more jobs for young people to reduce violence; support DC to become a state and build a new prison in the DMV, ”said Gary Proctor, the last candidate in the poll on Tuesday.

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