Pursuing social justice requires the social work profession to intentionally aspire toward political justice. Political justice, a core civil rights issue, refers to equal access to both voting rights (for example, to register and vote without discrimination, to have accessible voting mechanisms and locations) and political opportunities (for example, to be represented politically, to express one’s voice and have it heard, to run for office) (Lane & Pritzker, 2018). As the coronavirus has spread, disparate state access to voting procedures that can be done at a distance, for example, mail-in voting and online registration, are exacerbating already-existing barriers for many marginalized communities with whom U.S. social workers practice. Furthermore, multiple states have responded to the pandemic by suspending portions of open meeting laws that guide public participation and transparency in government decision making (Aidun & Metzger, 2020), including limiting or eliminating public comment sessions (Timm, Valdez, & Blair, 2020). In this commentary, we call on the social work profession to promote political justice by deliberately elevating practice, education, and research to challenge intentional efforts that limit individuals’ political voices.

中文翻译：

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政治正义：社会工作势在必行

追求社会正义需要社会工作专业有意识地追求政治正义。政治正义是一项核心民权问题，指的是平等获得投票权（例如，不受歧视地登记和投票，拥有无障碍的投票机制和地点）和政治机会（例如，在政治上代表，表达一个人的声音并听到它，竞选公职）（Lane & Pritzker，2018 年）。随着冠状病毒的传播，各州对可以远程进行的投票程序的不同访问，例如邮寄投票和在线登记，正在加剧许多与美国社会工作者一起执业的边缘化社区已经存在的障碍。此外，多个州通过暂停指导公众参与和政府决策透明度的公开会议法的部分内容来应对这一流行病（Aidun 和 Metzger，2020 年），包括限制或取消公众评议会议（Timm、Valdez 和 Blair，2020 年）。在这篇评论中，我们呼吁社会工作专业通过有意提升实践、教育和研究来挑战限制个人政治声音的故意努力来促进政治正义。