Restore the Vote Minnesota is looking for women to testify. Can you help?

One of WMM’s 2019 legislative priorities is HF40, a bill to restore the right to vote to over 50,000 Minnesotans who have been convicted of a felony but are not in prison - who are living in their communities, working, paying taxes, but still not allowed to vote.

Under current MN law, a person convicted of a felony who is not in prison cannot vote not only when they are in prison, but also if they are on probation (no prison time) or supervised release (completed prison time but on supervised release). Of the over 50,000 Minnesotans who are in this situation and can't vote, 11,469 are women. (These figures are from a 2017 Department of Corrections Probation Survey).

WMM is part of the Restore The Vote Minnesota Coalition and the campaign is looking for a woman convicted of a felony who would be willing to testify about not being able to vote while on probation or parole and how that has affected her life. Is that you? Or do you know someone in this situation who would be willing to testify? If so, please contact us now at legislative@WomensMarchMn.com. Thank you!

See this recent article on this issue--Renee Brown-Goodell talks about her experience of not being able to vote due to her status on supervised release, even though she has completed her time in prison and is back in her community.

Exciting news! HF 40 will have its first hearing at 9.45am next Wednesday, February 13th, in the House Elections Committee. See details of the hearing here. Please attend the hearing if you can, to show your support for this important bill. Restore the Vote will be there with free T-shirts for supporters of the bill to wear, to send a strong message to our representatives.

Save The Date:

March 7th - Restore the Vote Rally at the State Capitol at noon.