To Honor MLK, Let New Yorkers in Prison Vote
Four lawmakers explain why they introduced legislation to finally end felony disenfranchisement in New York.
Julia Salazar, Zellnor Myrie, Harvey Epstein, and Latrice Walker Jan 17, 2023
It’s Time To Lower The Voting Age To 16
Grown adults have voted their way into the current morass in this country. Now is the time for a younger generation to lead the way.
David A. Love Nov 03, 2020
Florida Activists Flood Polling Sites With Volunteers to Combat Voter Suppression
A grassroots coalition is showing up at locations across the swing state to ensure Black and Latinx voters can cast their ballots safely.
Harrison Jacobs Nov 02, 2020
The Senate Filibuster Is Hollowing Out American Democracy
If Democrats win control of the Senate, allowing this archaic tradition to survive will make everything of significance the party hopes to accomplish virtually impossible.
Jay Willis Nov 02, 2020
What Raquel Terán Wants To Accomplish If Democrats Take The Arizona State Legislature
The state representative wants to pass paid family leave, repeal Arizona’s pre-Roe vs. Wade abortion ban, and increase access to the ballot through automatic voter registration and same-day registration.
Meg O'Connor Oct 29, 2020
In Her First Run For Office, Teresa Leger Fernandez Wants To ‘Protect What We Love’ About New Mexico
Leger Fernandez, whose district includes Navajo Nation and several Pueblo reservations, wants to pass universal healthcare and improve infrastructure in tribal and rural communities.
Lauren Gill Oct 28, 2020
As Arizona Politics Shift, Martín Quezada Hopes This Term Is His Most Significant
Quezada has supported progressive policies since starting out in the state legislature in 2012. He’s now running for his final term, which could be his most important, given the state’s changing power dynamics.
Meg O'Connor Oct 27, 2020
Teens Younger Than 18 Could Soon Have The Right To Vote In San Francisco
A measure on the ballot next month would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, a change that advocates say would crucially expand the voting pool.
Lauren Gill Oct 23, 2020
Michigan Lifers Are Organizing Their Families to Vote
The Adolescent Redemption Project, a new group organized by Michigan prisoners sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, is advocating for progressive prosecutors.
Marcia Brown Oct 22, 2020
Black Voters Matter Co-Founder Says Voting Enthusiasm Is Strong Despite Rampant Suppression
The group is seeing real challenges posed by the pandemic, voter suppression tactics, and threats of intimidation.
Kira Lerner Oct 20, 2020
As More States Turn To Mail-In Voting, Problems Pop Up Across Country
Last week’s problems in New York were part of a widespread series of issues, both systemic and targeted, that are only now becoming fully apparent, activists say.
Eoin Higgins Oct 08, 2020
Advocates For Domestic Workers, Voters, And Prisoners Express Alarm Over Trump’s Threat To End Stimulus Talks
Passing the HEROES Act would provide crucial protections to some of the most vulnerable essential workers, they say.
Lauren Gill Oct 07, 2020
California Voters Have An Opportunity To Chip Away At Jim Crow-Era Voting Law
Proposition 17 would allow people with felony convictions to cast ballots while they are on parole.
Kira Lerner Oct 06, 2020
Another Way Chaos Could Erupt on Election Day: Delayed Absentee Ballot Processing
Although some GOP election officials have moved to allow mail-in ballots to be counted early, outdated rules in other key Republican-led states could feed President Trump’s Election Day fearmongering.
Spenser Mestel Oct 02, 2020
Trump’s Voter Fraud Lie Is the Oldest Trick in the Book
The president’s fearmongering over mail-in ballots is part of a long history of politicians denying members of marginalized communities, and particularly Black people, the right to vote.
Jay Willis Sep 02, 2020
Conservatives Are Winning The Supreme Court’s Most Important Fight: Suppressing The Vote
Enabling widespread voter suppression is shaping up to be the Roberts Court’s most consequential accomplishment, because every other aspect of the Republican agenda depends on it.
Jay Willis Jul 24, 2020
Police at Polling Places Could Intimidate Voters This November, Advocates Warn
This year’s presidential contest will be the first since a federal judge lifted a decades-old consent decree barring the Republican National Committee from engaging in “ballot security,” or voter intimidation at the polls.
Kira Lerner Jul 02, 2020
Voting Rights Advocates Sound the Alarm About Disenfranchisement of Black Voters in Wisconsin’s Primary
‘We literally held an election during a pandemic.’
Kira Lerner Apr 07, 2020
Coronavirus: Voting And Abortion Rights Imperiled
People in nearly every state are under some form of a stay-at-home order because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But today in Wisconsin, residents must decide whether they want to protect their health or participate in democracy. The state’s Democratic governor tried to postpone in-person voting in the presidential primary and local elections, but Republican legislators and a […]
Sarah Lustbader Apr 07, 2020
Want To Drive Voter Turnout In 2020? Stop Arresting People.
Spotlights like this one provide original commentary and analysis on pressing criminal justice issues of the day. You can read them each day in our newsletter, The Daily Appeal. Democrats who hope to retake the White House in November are seeking to turn out voters—a lot of them. According to one information systems professor who worked for President […]
Sarah Lustbader Mar 17, 2020
As Florida Primary Approaches, Many With Felony Convictions Remain Unclear if They Can Vote
Advocates worry the widespread confusion may have a chilling effect on eligible voters.
Kira Lerner Mar 16, 2020
My Vote Was Taken Away From My Community and Given To a District Where I Was Incarcerated
Prison-based gerrymandering takes political power away from Black and Latinx communities—power that could be used to push for more funding for schools, social services, infrastructure, and other important reforms.
Robert Saleem Holbrook Mar 02, 2020
Florida Can’t Bar People From Voting Because of Inability to Pay, Appeals Court Says
The court found that a law that critics described as a poll tax violates the Constitution.
Kira Lerner Feb 19, 2020
Kentucky Bill Would Make It Harder For Formerly Incarcerated People To Vote
The bill would disproportionately affect the 140,000 people whose voting rights were recently restored.
Kira Lerner Jan 21, 2020
Tuesday’s Election Boosts Voting Rights for People With Past Convictions
A claimed victory in Kentucky and wins in Virginia mean hundreds of thousands of people could have their right to vote restored.
Kira Lerner, Daniel Nichanian Nov 06, 2019
Miami Officials: Most People Who Owe Fines and Fees Can Vote
Lawyers and advocates in Miami-Dade County will roll out a new plan to counter the disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions.
Kira Lerner, Daniel Nichanian Jul 24, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: What’s Changed Since The 2018 Prison Strike?
With Jailhouse Lawyers Speak spokesperson and Right 2 Vote national coordinator Amani Sawari
Adam H. Johnson Jun 13, 2019
How a D.C. Lawmaker is Challenging the Racist Roots of Prison Voting Restrictions
Right now, only the whitest states—Maine and Vermont—allow prisoners to vote. Washington, D.C., could change that.
Kira Lerner Jun 12, 2019
‘I Can’t Afford It and I Never Will Be Able To’
Florida is poised to pass a law that imposes a ‘poll tax’ on thousands of formerly incarcerated people.
Kira Lerner May 01, 2019
Texas Is Poised to Make It Easier to Jail People For Voting Errors
The legislation is part of a wave of bills across the country meant to criminalize mistakes in the name of voter fraud.
Kira Lerner Apr 12, 2019
Undercutting reform, Florida moves to ban certain people from ever voting again
Lawmakers are redefining certain crimes in order to carve out broad exceptions to who can regain the right to vote.
Kira Lerner Mar 20, 2019
The Appeal Podcast: The Backlash Against Expanding Voting Rights
With Appeal staff reporter Kira Lerner
Adam H. Johnson Mar 07, 2019
Iowa Moves Toward Expanding Voting Rights. But It May Require a ‘Modern Day Poll Tax.’
Lawmakers are debating whether to let people with felony convictions vote—but there could be a catch.
Kira Lerner Feb 07, 2019
Texas D.A. Who Sent Woman To Prison For Five Years for Voting Made Her Own Election Mistake
Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson prosecuted Crystal Mason for casting an illegal ballot. But Wilson escaped charges for a possible election violation of her own.
Steven Yoder Sep 18, 2018
In New York, Most Parolees Can Now Vote—But Many County Websites Say They Can’t
As Thursday’s election approaches, confusion reigns.
Emma Whitford Sep 12, 2018
‘We thought it was important to knock down doors’
Lewis Conway Jr., a formerly incarcerated activist running for Austin City Council, sits down with The Appeal.
Sylvia A. Harvey Aug 30, 2018
Did Gov. Cuomo Grant New York Parolees the Right to Vote? Not Exactly.
When Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that he would restore voting rights to New Yorkers on parole, he won instant praise from organizers who had long pushed for criminal justice reform. “This executive order will mean thousands more will be welcomed back into our democracy and assured that in 21st century America, the right to vote is […]
Victoria Law Apr 23, 2018