Restoration of Rights encompasses the process by which people convicted of a felony regain their constitutional right to vote and participate in the democratic process upon release from incarceration. This section will restore democracy and advance racial justice by automatically restoring the right to vote for all community members, improve public safety, and reduce recidivism with a stronger democracy.
Improving Native protections means increasing collaboration between tribal leaders and election clerks, standardizing early voting on tribal lands, and guaranteeing much-needed resources for polling places and secure ballot drop boxes. There is no reason that Native people should be forced to follow different standards when it comes to requesting resources to vote.
65 million Americans decided to vote by mail in 2020 because it’s safe, secure, and accessible, just like a fair and free democracy should be. Allowing eligible voters to mark their preference for a mail ballot is a tried and tested way to advance justice for those with transportation, ambulatory, and other restrictions while reducing unnecessary work for election administrators.
The legislature has an opportunity to upgrade our automatic voter registration system to one that will automatically register people to vote when they present documents confirming their citizenship and residency at the MVD or another state agency. Changes to address, gender, and name would follow eligible voters, so they only have to change them once rather than obligating them to change them at each state agency making the process easier for voters.
Updates to the Request for Voter Data section are needed to ensure the ongoing personal safety and trust of registered voters by ensuring that the use of voter data is restricted to the purpose defined by the requestor. This is important for healthcare providers, elected officials, and community members that may be at higher risk if their addresses are made public.
Election Day is a special day for our country and our democracy. By making Election Day a school holiday we have the opportunity to create generational value of voting and something that can be looked forward to as a family event.