By Andy Gutierrez
Murphy News Service 

A University of Minnesota-born coalition is fighting to restore voting rights for over 47,000 disenfranchised citizens who are not eligible to vote due to past felony convictions.

The coalition is composed of over 60 government and nonprofit entities around the state, including faith-based organizations, direct service organizations, and civic engagement and advocacy groups.

“The reality is that the majority of people that have lost their rights are living in our community, they are neighbors, they’re our friends and are paying taxes and raising families,” said Sarah Walker, the founder of the Second Chance Coalition.

Walker, a Carlton College and University of Minnesota alumna, has been working to restore rights to those impacted by the system since 2005.

Now, Walker and other members from the coalition are more insistent than ever on returning rights to those who are in probation and parole in the state.

“We are long overdue for a change in Minnesota,” Walker said. “Sixty-four percent of people who would be re-enfranchised come from outside of Ramsey and Hennepin county and suffered extremely long probation sentences. They’re being denied the most fundamental rights.”

Minnesota’s disenfranchisement policy is most impactful to minority communities, especially black men, according to the Second Chance Coalition.

Jason Adkins, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said the disenfranchisement rates are alarming because of the lasting effects that these policies are having on the families of those involved.

“The children, in the general matter, are less likely to vote themselves,” Adkins said.

He believes that children of ex-offenders may end up voting less because they do not see their parents engaging in civic participation.

But the true damage, according to Adkins, comes from the stigma and consequences that come from ex-felons’ convictions.

“People, when they come out of incarceration, are expected to rebuild their lives and then behave responsibly, but have one reminder after another that they’re not like everybody else,” Adkins said.

Adkins has taken a leadership role on the legislative front of the coalition and said that the restoration of voting rights is the most pressing issue right now.

However, his organization, the Minnesota Catholic Conference, is working on a number of other issues.

“We are working on diagnosis awareness act with a number of disability organizations, and work on a variety of subjects including provisional driver’s licenses for undocumented persons,” Adkins said.

Walker said that the restoration these rights (voting rights specifically) will leave a lasting influence that may impact other states.

“Fourteen other states already follow the law that we are recommending between North Dakota and Utah,” Walker said. “Ultimately, I believe that Minnesotans would not believe that it is fair to have someone that is working in the community, raising their kids, not being able to have a say in the local government.

The bills on restoring voting rights will first be heard in the Minnesota House Public Safety Committee.

Andy Gutierrez is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.