Slavery Was On The Ballot, And It Wasn't Banned Everywhere

More than 150 years after slavery was outlawed in the US, the practice persists in the form of forced, unpaid prison labor. Five states had the opportunity to end this.

As children in the US learn in schools, slavery was abolished over 150 years ago during the nation’s Civil War in 1863. And yet, on the November 8 2022 midterm elections, five states, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Louisiana, and Alabama, voted on ballot measures that would end slavery in those states.

How is the US still be contending with slavery in 2022? The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery. However, it contained a powerful exception—slavery would be legal as punishment for a crime.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of prison workers are held in involuntary servitude, often unpaid and always below minimum wage. Tennessee, Vermont, and Alabama voted yes on ballot measures that would end all exceptions to involuntary, forced, and unpaid labor within prisons within their respective state constitutions. Oregon’s vote is too close to call with only 66% of results in, but also seems to lean towards ending all forms of slavery. Louisiana rejected a ballot measure known as Amendment 7, which would have changed the current constitutional language that permits prison slavery.