“Restore the Vote” Encourages Felons No Longer Incarcerated to Exercise Ballot Box Rights

Minnesota Secretary of State was in Duluth Friday to get the word out.

With another election season upon us, some will be voting for the first time, while others will have a chance to vote again—after a long time.

Minnesota’s Secretary of State was in Duluth Friday for several Restore the Vote events, including at city hall.

Steve Simon said one goal is to work with community leaders and citizens to get the word out about a law change that allows felons who are no longer incarcerated to vote.

Duluth community member Salaam Witherspoon says she’s encouraging those affected by the change to realize their vote can have an impact.

“Throughout history, throughout your children’s and generations to come. So that’s why it’s important because the laws that are passed and the people that we vote for, it will last for centuries and decades. Those effects are long-lasting and long-standing,” said Witherspoon.

Simon said he wants to get the word out to others with connections in the community.

“And that means getting trusted voices around a table who have relationships in various communities. Whether that’s faith leaders, or non-profit leaders. It could be business leaders or sports figures or whatever,” said Simon.

“We just want to get the word out because that’s a lot of folks. 55,000 people around the state who may or may not know at this point that they have the right to vote back. These are people by the way who have been out of incarceration for years, sometimes decades and haven’t had the freedom to vote, and now they do,” said Simon.

Chenoa Williams said she was attending the meeting as a community member and representing herself.

She said she appreciated the secretary’s visit, but said that he “missed the mark.”

“So, he didn’t go to the shelters, he didn’t go to the soup kitchens, he didn’t go to the library,” said Williams.

“To the places where people who are disenfranchised because of their records, would be,” Williams said.

Simon says that government officials are not always the best and most trusted in a community and that is why he is meeting with other community leaders. He says the best one-stop place for answers to almost any voting question is his department’s website at “mnvotes.gov.”