The JBV/Civic Ed team is implementing the Mobile Ballot Box Initiative, which provides community support for eligible incarcerated voters at the Suffolk County House of Corrections and Nashua Street Jail to cast their ballots during local, state, and national elections. 

In addition to expanding access to the ballot box for people behind the wall through the Mobile Ballot Box Initiative, our JBV Workshops held inside of Suffolk County jails provide essential nonpartisan information about voter registration, absentee ballot applications, and candidate guide materials in order to help eligible incarcerated voters make informed decisions each election cycle. We work with incarcerated voters to complete paperwork and track their ballots. We also advocate for institutional changes that are required to ensure that ballots are received and counted by the Elections Department. 

Our JBV Reflection Circles for Reimagining Democracy bring outside community volunteers and incarcerated residents together into a shared learning space to discuss political challenges that matter most to our communities and to explore new possibilities for building a more inclusive democracy in our future. JBV Reflection Circle programs at both county jails encourage participants to come as they are, share personal stories about their vision for social justice, and listen to learn from one another’s experiences with the goal of deepening our political education.

The JBV/Civic Ed team recruits and works with a variety of college student volunteers from Harvard University, Northeastern University, Boston University, and the Berklee College of Music through established extracurricular programs and campus relationships. Our college partnerships have made possible the creation of JBV civic educational materials, including our candidate guides and JBV civics curriculum. Future courses offered at Harvard College through the Mindich Program in Engaged Scholarship will create opportunities for undergraduates to contribute to EDC’s ongoing work in Suffolk County and across the commonwealth.