America's Disenfranchised: Why Restoring Their Vote Can Save the Soul of Our Democracy by Desmond Meade

Author:Desmond Meade [Meade, Desmond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Democracy, Campaigns & Elections, Political Ideologies, Civil Rights, Political Science, Political Process
ISBN: 9781501763748
Google: qNtCEAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 59145773
Publisher: Cornell Selects
Published: 2021-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Lessons Learned from Second Chances Campaign

Amendment 4 has been called the largest expansion of voting rights since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.14 In every way, it was a triumph for democracy both in the structure and process of the campaign and in the actual passage of the measure. While the victory takes on even greater significance in the context of the history of felon disenfranchisement and with consideration of the future opportunity to transform Florida by bringing more voices to the ballot box, we navigated many challenges to get here. And, as I’ll discuss in the final section of this essay, we face similar challenges in the implementation of the victory if it is to have real impact on the lives of returning citizens. But first, let us take some useful lessons.

Directly impacted people provided an authentic voice to our campaign and drove the volunteer effort forward. They were at the heart of the Amendment 4 strategy. Post-victory, in the implementation phase, these returning citizens continued (and continue to this day) to play an equally critical role in ensuring that the strategy is accountable to the people it is intended to serve.

The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition led the Amendment 4 effort, but as the organization came to be increasingly prominent, it has become more organized and more structured. It is no longer a loose configuration of experts and allies. Today, the FRRC is a chapter-based membership organization consisting of formerly incarcerated people and their families from throughout the state. The FRRC also partners with an array of national and state allies and advocates to advance our mission to protect and implement Amendment 4 and also to connect the Amendment 4 victory to a longerterm agenda to advance policies that end mass incarceration, stop racial profiling and unfair policing, promote positive reentry policies, destigmatize returning citizens, and ensure improved public safety for all.

There is sometimes an inclination in truly transformational campaigns to romanticize strategy and downplay methodology. But in the case of the Second Chances campaign, there’s been significant analysis of the deliberate choices that directly contributed to the campaign’s success. That’s because those same choices will be required in the subsequent phases of work to implement, defend, and protect the new law over the coming years. It can also help others who are engaged in efforts like these in their home states.

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