December 8, 2022 – Disenfranchising people with felony convictions was a tactic by white supremacists after the Civil War to prevent Black men from influencing elections. Why are 48 U.S. states still doing it?

November 24, 2022 – The executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition was homeless, addicted to crack, and suicidal. Now, he has met the president, been one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, and won a MacArthur grant.

November 22, 2022 – The midterms were the first election in Florida’s history in which registered Republicans outpaced Democrats at the voting booth. Were DeSantis’ public arrests to blame?

November 21, 2022 – Marquis Mckenzie Sr. is an example of not allowing your bad past to determine your future. The 32-year-old dropped out of school when he was only 15 years old and began hanging out with older people who were “living the street life.”

November 17, 2022 – When law enforcement officers began arresting 20 people charged with illegally voting in the 2020 election, there was a common theme among those accused: they didn’t understand why they were being arrested.

November 11, 2022 – After being incarcerated and charged with a felony at 16, Marquis Mckenzie Sr. was hopeless about his future career prospects. But the 32-year-old now brings in about $150,000 a year as a business owner and community organizer in Orlando, Florida.

November 9, 2022 – How did the state of Florida allow 20 felons (Returning Citizens) to get voter-registration cards if they were clearly ineligible to get their rights restored?

November 4, 2022 – DeSantis made a spectacle of arresting voters with felony convictions. Now, some eligible voters are opting out of midterms even beyond Florida.

November 4, 2022 – “If I go vote, [Gov. Ron] DeSantis will have me arrested,” said one person with a felony conviction who’s listed as an active voter on a state website.

November 3, 2022 – Leroy Whitaker Jr. knows the value of a vote. Whitaker, a former felon (Returning Citizen), waited nearly two decades to cast one for the first time—which he did thanks to Florida’s 2018 ballot initiative that restored the right vote to felons (Returning Citizens) not convicted of murder or sex crimes.

November 3, 2022 – “The way that we drafted the law was to say that if you were going to be arrested for this, the state had to prove that you did it willingly,” said Jeff Brandes.

November 1, 2022 – Critics say the arrest of 20 former felons (Returning Citizens) for voting could have a chilling effect on turnout this year. In 2018, the voters of the state of Florida overwhelmingly passed Amendment 4, restoring the right to vote for more than 1.4 million former felons (Returning Citizens).

October 31, 2022 – A recent study estimated that 4.6 million Americans will not be able to vote in this year’s midterm elections due to a current or previous felony conviction. The study also found that African Americans of voting age are over three times more likely to be disenfranchised due to a felony than non-African Americans – about one out of every 19 citizens in the U.S.

October 31, 2022 – A week after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the arrests of 20 people for alleged voter fraud, his administration quietly made a change that some say could help the state go after more people.

October 31, 2022 – An estimated 5.2 million voting-ag adults cannot cast a ballot because they have a felony conviction, according to a 2020 report from the Sentencing Project.

October 28, 2022 – Robert Simpson, a Pahokee resident charged with voter fraud, holds his 2022 voter information card on Aug. 30 in Pahokee, Florida.

October 28, 2022 – Florida restored voting rights for convicted felons (Returning Citizens) in 2018, but confusion over election laws has led some to consider sitting out this election due to a fear of being re-incarcerated, according to a Democratic lawmaker and attorney in the state.

October 23, 2022 – Jim interviews the deputy director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition in the aftermath this week of newly released videos from arrests of 20 people in Florida back in August for alleged voter fraud in 2020. 

October 22, 2022 – A South Florida judge on Friday dropped charges against a Miami man swept up in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ push to crack down on voter fraud, signaling an early legal loss for the administration’s highly touted elections investigation unit..

October 22, 2022 -The arresting police officers sounded almost apologetic as they detained the suspect in front of his home in Tampa, Florida..

October 22, 2022 – One of the 20 people arrested with fanfare under an election fraud program launched by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had his case dismissed Friday by a Miami judge, but the governor plans to appeal the ruling.

October 21, 2022 – The accused was facing up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines and fees. A Florida man had his election fraud charges dismissed on Friday, making him the first of 20 people who Gov. Ron DeSantis announced had been charged with voter fraud in August, to beat his case.

October 19, 2022 – A crackdown in August on voter fraud announced by Gov. Ron DeSantis seems to have ensnared former felons (Returning Citizens) who were puzzled that they were accused of violating voting laws.

October 19, 2022 – Newly released police bodycam footage shows that three of the 20 people who were arrested in Florida for allegedly voting illegally in the 2020 election appeared to be surprised that they had done anything wrong.

October 10, 2022 – Several people charged with illegal voting are taking their cases to court. Michelle Stribling declined to talk with WESH 2 Investigates at her home because she said she was still too upset by her arrest on two felony election law charges of registering and voting by absentee ballot in the 2020 general election.

October 4, 2022 – Has Amendment 4 been implemented as to the wishes of the voters?  Or does it create more hoops for ex-felons (Returning Citizens) to jump through before they have their voting rights restored?

September 28, 2022 – Registering to vote and casting one’s ballot is an essential part of full citizenship. But for some Americans, the right to vote is beyond reach due to felony disenfranchisement.

September 15, 2022 – The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) recently held a convention to mark its 10th anniversary. In 2018, the group successfully led an initiative to pass Amendment 4, restoring voting rights for over 1.4 million Floridians with felony convictions, except for murder and sexual offenses.

September 10, 2022 – The state of Florida charged a group of formerly imprisoned people with voter fraud despite the government telling them they could vote. Neil Volz, Deputy Director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition joined American Voices with Alicia Menendez to discuss the state’s confusing rules when it comes to restoring voting rights to people who have served time after a felony conviction.

September 6, 2022 – An Orange County woman accused of voter fraud pleaded not guilty. Michelle Stribling is a felon (Returning Citizen) released from prison in 2004.

September 4, 2022 – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ election fraud show of force is casting light on a broken system for restoring the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions and bringing flawed criminal cases against people who mistakenly thought they could vote, defense lawyers and advocates say.

September 1, 2022 – There’s been a lot of finger-pointing about who’s to blame after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the arrests of 20 formerly convicted Floridians for alleged voter fraud. But will those charges hold up in court?

September 1, 2022 – A Miami man, one of 20 people arrested by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ election crimes and security task force in mid-August, is speaking to Local 10 News, saying he was led to believe that he was legally allowed to vote when he, in fact, wasn’t.

August 31, 2022 – Gov. Ron DeSantis wants felons (Returning Citizens) convicted of murder and sexual offenses to follow the proper steps to earn back their right to vote. But he says good luck on getting his approval.

August 31, 2022 – Elections officials across Florida are poking holes in the DeSantis administration’s claims that they’re to blame after 20 people were arrested for voting illegally.

August 30, 2022 -Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending voter fraud charges brought by his administration that have drawn increasing criticism, including from the Republican lawmaker who drafted legislation at the center of the debate.

August 28, 2022 – When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the first arrests of the new office of elections crimes and security, it turned out to be 20 felons (Returning Citizens) arrested for voting illegally.

August 27, 2022 – Florida voters approved Amendment 4 in 2018 to restore voting rights to nearly 1.4 million Floridian former felons (Returning Citizens), according to the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

August 27, 2022 – Many of the individuals recently charged by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new election crimes unit told investigators they had no idea that with their felony convictions, they were unable to vote when they cast ballots in the 2020 election.

August 26, 2022 – DeSantis’ office has ignored questions about local elections office sending voting cards to ex-felons (Returning Citizens) before their arrests last week.

August 24, 2022 – Eight ex-felons (Returning Citizens) from South Florida face the possibility of being jailed again for years after being arrested last week on voter fraud charges ahead of the Aug. 23 primaries.

August 23, 2022 – The messy rollout of a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to felons (Returning Citizens) is now creating more felony crimes.

August 22, 2022 – Ahead of Tuesday’s primary election in Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’s new Office of Election Crimes and Security made its first arrests of people it alleged engaged in voter fraud in the 2020 election.

August 18, 2022 – DeSantis said 20 people across the state were arrested for voter fraud. Those arrested worry what it’ll do to their livelihood.

August 18, 2022 – FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the first arrests made by the state’s new elections police force Thursday: Twenty people previously incarcerated for murder or sexual assault who he said had illegally voted in the 2020 election.

August 17, 2022 – Ariel Maldonado, a North Fort Myers resident, says he’s struggling to move forward with his life due to him owing $49,000 in court fines and fees.

August 17, 2022 – Joshua Underwood talks about how he helped the drive to restore voting rights to returning citizens and what getting his rights back means to him.

August 4, 2022 – Marquis McKenzie, the son of a chef and a corrections officer, was 15 years old on the day Florida prosecutors urged a judge to try him as an adult for armed robbery.

July 30, 2022 – The man who fought to restore felon (Returning Citizen) voting rights is critical of recent arrests, and the state admits it does not have adequate resources to determine if some are not eligible to vote.

June 30, 2022 – REFORM Alliance, the nonprofit organization founded by award-winning recording artist Meek Mill; Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin; entrepreneur and business mogul Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter; and other leaders across business, philanthropy, and entertainment, announced today that new reforms to the Sunshine State’s criminal justice system will go into effect Friday, July 1st.

June 30, 2022 – A first-of-its-kind event in Central Florida is designed to help inmates prepare for life after serving time. Orange County Corrections staff at the jail say 96% of Orange County inmates return to the community. 

June 13, 2022 – A group that led the charge to restore voting rights to most people convicted of felonies in Florida is poised to take on a new challenge: Gun violence. 

June 8, 2022 – From behind bars to a community helper and successful business owner, an Orlando man is turning his life around and helping others do the same.

June 6, 2022 – Nearly 7 million people in Florida have a record. Every year, almost 1 million Americans are released from state and federal prison. This is an important moment — one of hope for a better life and a safer community.

May 26, 2022 – The city of Orlando is moving forward with a plan to combat violent crime. In January, the Orlando City Council approved $3 million from the American Rescue Plan toward reducing gun violence.

May 8, 2022 – The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition has announced the formation of a task force to defend former inmates against voter fraud charges. It follows the recent arrests of 10 former felons (Returning Citizens) who were registered or voted in violation of state law.

May 8, 2022 – A Central Florida group, run primarily by former convicted felons (Returning Citizens), wants a statewide database to determine voting eligibility.

May 7, 2022 – The man who spearheaded a movement that resulted in convicted felons (Returning Citizens) getting their right to vote returned in Florida is demanding better record-keeping from state officials.

May 6, 2022 – A Florida advocacy group is launching an election integrity campaign in response to an increase in arrests for voter fraud that have been made in Alachua County and in surrounding areas. 

April 28, 2022 – Florida authorities arrested a Black man while he was staying in a homeless shelter and charged him with voting illegally in a case tied to Republicans’ drive to root out election fraud.

April 27, 2022 – The Rockford branch of the NAACP hosting a conversation on voting rights restoration in Illinois prisons.

April 22, 2022 – Desmond Meade overcame drug addiction, homelessness, and incarceration on a path to advocate for returning citizenship to the formerly incarcerated by removing/reducing barriers for fully participating in civic life.

April 21, 2022 – The Tampa City Council Monday directed city staff to draft an ordinance creating an incentive program for contractors that hire individuals recently released from prison.

April 11, 2022 – What does an author of Christian fiction, a sitting senator, a medical mobile unit, a television show, a formerly incarcerated social activist, a peace farm that teaches environmental awareness in Jamaica, an outreach that reaches the poor in Pakistan, and a publicist, have in common? You might say that they are all the same race or gender, and the answer would be no. 

April 11, 2022 – Desmond Meade likes to say he doesn’t consider himself the best rights campaign organizer in his own family. That would be his wife Sheena Meade, he insists.

March 11, 2022 – Desmond Meade explains his ongoing work succinctly: “We are an organization that is made up of people who are closest to the pain.”

February 25, 2022 – As an emerging journalist serving time at Everglades Correctional Institution in Miami, I spend most of my days following leads, conducting interviews and writing down details from the inside that most on the outside can’t — or don’t want to — understand.

February 18, 2022 – By now, you have probably heard of Florida’s Amendment 4, the constitutional amendment placed on Florida’s referendum ballot to restore civil rights for “returning citizens” or individuals who have had various interactions with the criminal justice system and lost their civil rights due to felony convictions.

February 16, 2022 – The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), along with hundreds of Florida citizens, are at the State Capitol today, Feb. 16th, for Advocacy Day 2022.

February 9, 2022 – The latest installment of the Economic Equity and Racial Justice Series, Feb. 10, focuses on the reintegration of ex-offenders into society and removing barriers to empowered citizenship.