Thread by @IndivisibleLRCA

Thread
So last night a young man stopped by our Letters to Voters event at a park, wondering what we were doing. When we asked if he was registered to vote, he said he had a felony conviction, "I'd like to, but I don't know that I can vote."
😭😭😭
#VotingRights #KnowYourRights

We asked if he was off paper.
Yes, he said, for 5 months now.
Do you have your release papers?
I sure do, that's my ID! I keep it safe!

Good. He just needs to take that to his parole or probation release paper to the county clerk's office, to register to #vote #restoration

His face lit up! 🌞🌞🌞
"I can do that! I want to vote!"

What better way to reintegrate someone into society than help them navigate the ways citizens are expected to take care of our society -- #VOTING being a major part of our civic responsibilities?
#VotingAccessSavesLives

What does it say to a young man, five months after his release, that no one has cared enough about his civic contributions to explain that, Yes, he CAN regain his right to vote, if he just takes his release papers to his county clerk?
#Disenfranchisement #VoterSuppression

What lesson does someone w/a felony conviction learn when authorities don’t inform him that he can vote again? He learns that his community doesn’t care if he’s engaged with its future, its welfare.
And that is a dangerous & irresponsible lesson to teach our young people.

Can we please teach people w/felony convictions who are being released from parole or probation how they can regain their right to vote? Can we make that easy lesson part of the protocol?
#EverybodyVotes #VotingRights

Please ask Ark Community Corrections to insert this simple lesson into the release protocol:
People w/felony convictions CAN and SHOULD regain their right to vote when they go “off paper.”
Here’s how: static.ark.org/eeuploads/pula…

Call ACC: 501-682-9510
#RestoreVotingRights #VOTE