Voting For The First Time After 27 Years Of Incarceration

MODESTO – For the first time after being incarcerated for 27 years, Darnell Green is voting.

On a gusty Tuesday morning, Green and several of his peers made their way on foot to the Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters Office to cast their ballots. One by one, they entered the doorway, all of them exiting with a big smile.

“To have the opportunity to be part of change,” Green said. “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain about nothing that’s going on.”

Solomona Solomona accompanied Green to vote. He is also a first time voter.

“Honestly, I had a lot to think about,” Solomona said. “I’ve never voted ever in my life. To think that there’s people out there in the world doing stuff for us, and to think that I could possibly help them and help the community? I came down here.”

“It’s my first time, and I feel good.”

The group is part of a program called Legacy Alliance Outreach, a program that helps individuals who were previously incarcerated reintegrate into society.

“I just came back after doing 27 years in prison,” Green said. “To be able to have an outreach like Legacy Alliance, like Mr. Michael Baldwin, he put me in a position to have a better understanding of the way society is today. Giving me the resources to be able to navigate through this.”

Green says the program has been a great support, and the community has received him with open arms. Both men agreed that they hope to give back and become productive.

“After so many years of being a distraction,” Green said.

When asked what their emotions were while voting, Solomona said he was nervous at first.

“I was anxious, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I was nervous, I didn’t know what to do.”

When encouraged to go with his group of peers, he felt his anxiety increase, but going with Green gave him confidence.

“I have a voice, and it needs to be heard too,” he said. “It feels good to actually put something into the community. I might as well help everyone else with my vote. That matters.”