Criminal disenfranchisement laws strip voting rights from people with past convictions, excluding millions of Americans from participating in our democratic process. Even worse, these laws have a disproportionate impact on communities of color due to the pervasive racial bias in our criminal justice system.

This event brings together advocates from California, Florida, Iowa, and Kentucky for a conversation about the recent developments around rights restoration in their states. They’ll discuss why it’s important that these efforts are led by advocates who have experienced the scourge of disenfranchisement, the connection between disenfranchisement and the protests around the country over police violence and systemic racism, and the future of the movement nationwide.

This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center and NYU Votes.

Tayna Fogle, Democracy Fellow, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
Jhody Polk, Founder and Director, Legal Empowerment & Advocacy Hub (L.E.A.H); Director of Community Justice, River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding; 2018 Soros Justice Fellow
Taina Vargas-Edmond, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Initiate Justice
Daniel Zeno, Policy and Advocacy Director, ACLU of Iowa
Moderator: Sean Morales-Doyle, Deputy Director, Voting Rights & Elections, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice

Confusing ballot layouts and instructions harm all voters, but low-income voters, new voters, and elderly voters most of all. All too often, the loss of votes and rates of errors caused by poor design exceed candidates’ margins of victory, casting doubt on whether election outcomes always reflect voters’ intentions. What do these ballot defects look like? And how can election officials remedy them?

This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center and NYU Votes.

Larry Norden, Director, Election Reform, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice
Victoria Bassetti, Fellow, Brennan Center for Justice 
Alicia Yin Cheng, Graphic Designer and Author, This Is What Democracy Looked Like: A Visual History of the Printed Ballot
Moderator: Ilya Marritz, WNYC Senior Reporter; Co-Host of Trump, Inc.