Christian Motley (Moderator), Senior Manager of Policy & Partnerships, StriveTogether Jennifer Lai-Peterson, Senior Attorney, Advancement Project Joshua Douglas, Thomas P. Lewis Professor of Law, University of Kentucky Amber McReynolds, Executive Director, Vote at Home Institute and Coalition

Jennifer Lai-Peterson Main Points:

• Jennifer works specifically with ex-felons in Louisiana.
• The history of the right to vote is not linear. “The number of registered black voters in Louisiana declined from 130,344 in 1897, 5,320…."
• Directly tied to felons not being able to vote.
• The “voting wars” are back.
• “The new voting registrations target African Americans with almost surgical precision…and, in fact, impose cures for problems that did not exist."
• Building power is key.
• She told the story of restoring the right to vote to ex-felons in Louisiana

Joshua Douglas’s Main Points:

• His book, Vote for Us, addresses the question, “what are the good things that are happening with the right to vote?” To answer this, he looked for everyday Americans who are working toward building higher voter turnout.
• His book tells of testimonies of everyday people:
  • West Palat. An ex-felon who opened his own computer repair shop, got married, had kids. But still felt like he wasn’t living fully as a citizen, because he still couldn’t vote. While a bill was in session about expunging records, he went and testified, asking “what more do you want me to do? I’ve paid for this 5 times over.” His story touched one congressman, who contacted some of his colleagues who worked together to pass legislation that would allow lower-level ex-felons to expunge their records.
  • Carlos Duraurte. From Texas, thought “what can we do to help voter registration?” He went to Taco Trucks in heavily hispanic areas of Houston and brought voter registration forms. The voting turnout went up in the next election.
• What does this mean? Joshua Douglas says this means that everyday people can make a difference. You can take action. The appendix in his book lists each state and the efforts they are doing to help with voting rights, and also a section on nation-wide efforts.

Amber McReynolds’ Main Points:

• With 50% turnout, Amber says there’s no wonder people don’t trust the government. She showed pictures of incredibly long lines for voting across the nation from 2018, asserting that 5 hour long lines alone disenfranchise people.