TURNOUT Episode 2: ‘I’m coming back to Selma to start a movement’

Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. He's Chuck Wigs from Love Country Talk to Chuck, where we bring you what's really happening in the country music family. We also if you love country, here's the deal. You love country music, you can be on the podcast. So if you're a fan country music, what you call in anytime you like, Oh, I want to talk about this? Haul Cogan called in. He's like Chuckster. I love your podcast.

Jason al Dean, Jimmy Allen, Carley, Pierce, Ringa, Lena. Listen to new episodes of Love Country Talk to Chuck every Monday and Thursday on the Nashville Podcast Network, Available on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast or wherever you listen to podcast It was when I was eight years old growing up in Selma, when my life was changing without me even Norman. My name is Cheyenne Webb christ Burd. I was a little eight year old girl growing up

in George, Washington, Carbo projects. It was rough. Both my parents worked in the factories to feed us, to take care of us the best way that they knew allowed. But I'll never forget the day that I met Dr Martin the King Jr. As I would know him to do, I would always have to walk past now the historic

browns Appolaamily Church. In nineteen sixty four, Martin Luther King, Jr. And his civil rights organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Council, came to Selma, Alabama to start a voter registration campaign, and little eight year old Cheyenne was immediately swept up. He told us, I want to see you children before I leave, because I'm coming back to sell to start a movement. But I became very disobedient as that little girl.

My parents just couldn't do anything with me. They didn't want me to be a part of anything that reflected being a part of that movement. Despite her parents misgivings, Cheyenne began sneaking out of the house to attend community organization meetings that were being held at the church. It was at those meetings that she was exposed to the

ministry and principles of Martin Luther King. Dr King would talk about the Afican Americans who didn't have the right to vote, and he started talking about a march that would be taking place and sell my Alabama for African Americans to gain their right to vote. I'm Katie Couric and this is Turnout this week. We're exploring how America's fight for voting rights is wrapped up in the ongoing struggle for racial justice. And all I remember is trying to explain to my parents about what Dr King was

talking about. And I asked them that they have the right to vote, And of course my dad didn't even want to talk about it. He told me, no, black folks couldn't vote. But why not? After all, when the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in eighteen seventy, it guaranteed that the right to vote could no longer be denied based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude. So why did so many black people not vote before the nineteen sixties.

You may remember from our last episode that author Gilded Daniels asked her grandmother that very same question, why didn't she vote before the nineteen sixties, and got the same answer. Black people didn't vote because they could lose their land, they could lose their lives. It was not because they did not want to vote. It's because of all these mechanisms they were put in place to certainly prevent them

from doing so. To understand why black people couldn't vote, we have to go back about one hundred years to Reconstruction, when the country was trying to knit itself back together, reintegrating the Confederate States as well as four million formally enslaved people into the United States. It was a turbulent time, to say the least. After the Civil War, there was a period where the violence was so intense against African Americans. I mean just this unmitigated rage that they had the

audacity now to not be property. Dr Carol Anderson is an African American studies professor at Emory University an author of One Person, No Vote, How voter suppression is destroying our democracy? And we had a president Andrew Johnson, and he was horrifically racist and shortsighted. And he was fine with what Harvard law professor Annette Gordon Reid called the slow motion genocide that was happening to black people in the South. Well, the radical Republicans, and I love that term.

We had radical Republicans. The radical Republicans in Congress looked up at what Johnson had done and just said not today. It may seem a little strange given today's politics, but Andrew Johnson was a Democrat. Radical Republicans believed blacks were entitled to the same political and opportunities as whites. What also made them radical was that they wanted the federal government to do something about it, to directly intervene in the state's affairs to help get the country and all

of its people to a more perfect union. There was the Civil Rights Act of eighteen sixty six that dealt with citizenship to make it clear that black people were citizens. Then there was the Reconstruction Act of eighteen sixty seven. All men twenty one years and over will be registered to vote. That meant that black men would be registered

to vote. Oh. Then the radical Republicans were concerned that if they just had these laws at some point there may be a shift in the balance in Congress, and they wanted to make sure that the rights of all American citizens were protected. And that wasn't going to have and with just a law that could be easily overridden. So they embedded it in the US Constitution. The fourteenth Amendment dealt with birthright citizenship. If you're born here, you're

a citizen. Wow. Then came the Fifteenth Amendment in eighteen seventy. The fifteenth Amendment said the United States nor the States shall abridge the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. One of the other things that they did is they passed the Enforcement Act. It

was the third Enforcement Act of eighteen seventy one. Because the ku Klux Klan was reigning down massive domestic terrorism on black people who were trying to vote, and the federal government did not have the full authority it felt to go in there and stop them. The Enforcement Act was to in domestic terrorism and to pretend heck, African Americans right to vote. So this is just I mean, it's like boo bool bool. The radical Republicans were building

the House of Democracy. What happened next was a period, a very brief period in the eighteen seventies of political prosperity for blacks in America. In the South, more than half a million black men became voters in several states, including Mississippi. Black people were the majority of the population, and during that decade, Mississippi actually sent two black senators

to Washington. But then came the backlash. The white state legislators looked up in Mississippi said oh, well, we can't have this, and so they come up with the Mississippi Plan. And what the Mississippi Plan does is it says, how do we stop black people from voting without writing a law that explicitly says, we don't want black people devunt ah, We're going to couch it in the language of democracy, protecting the integrity of the ballot box, ensuring that there's

no corruption in our elections. But what it does is it uses the society imposed conditions on African Americans and makes those conditions the access to the ballot box. And so, for instance, the poll tax, the poll tax couched in this language says democracy is expensive, and so if you really believed in democracy, you would be willing to pay a small fee in order to ensure that this democracy

runs smoothly. So what you see there is this language that flips the responsibility of free and fair elections off of the state and onto the individual. So it's a wickedly evil rhetorical device and also very effective. And what it does is it makes it seem like the poll tax is nominal. How hard is it to pay just

this little fee. Well, after you have had centuries of unpaid labor because of slavery centuries, and then you have had the Black codes coming out of the Civil War, which reimposed slavery by another name, and then after that you have share cropping, systemic endemic, societally imposed poverty rained down on that black community, so that the poll tax actually required between two to six percent of a Mississippi farm famili's annual income. Imagine paying two to six percent

of your annual income to vote. Then there's the literacy test, when you have killed the enslaved who dare learn how to read to then require the reading of a complicated legal text in order to be able to vote. In the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax and the literacy test did not violate the Fifteenth Amendment because everybody had to pay the poll tax and everybody had to read, so how could this be racially discriminatory.

After that, you saw a number of states revised their state constitutions to include the Mississippi Plans disfranchisement policies in there. And the result was that by the time we get to nineteen forty, only three percent of age eligible African Americans in the South are registered to vote three percent.

The Second World War has already started, and we're looking at a democracy that is so warped, is so gnarrowed in the United States, where of black eligible voters have been blocked from the ballot box in the South, and the majority of African Americans lived in the South. By the time we get to Selma in Dallas County, where Selma is only point nine percent of African Americans age eligible African Americans were registered to vote point nine percent.

We'll return to Selma right after this short phrame. Conquer your New Year's resolution to be more productive with the Before Breakfast podcast. In each bite sized daily episode, time management and productivity expert Laura Vanderkam teaches you how to make the most of your time both at work and at home. These are the practical suggestions you need to get more done with your day. Just as lifting weights keeps our body strong as we age, learning new skills

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Congress passes the most sweeping civil rights bill ever to be written into the law unless we affirms the conception of equal In nineteen sixty four, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. The Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our states, in our harms and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country. It was a landmark piece of legislation.

It banned segregation in public places and discrimination in the workplace, but with racism running deep. Just listen to Alabama Governor George Wallace in nineteen sixty three, there was so much it didn't do to ensure blacks had the to vote which brings us back to Selma and Cheyenne. I'm Shyenne web christ Burg. Dr Martin Luther King's smallest freedom fighter

and Dr King's voter registration campaign. Beginning in January nine, freedom fighters staged non violent demonstrations in Selma to push for another piece of legislation guaranteeing all Black Americans the

right to vote. As I continue to participate in the movement, where many other freedom fighters would come from other places of the states to join that movement to change things into helping fighting for the right to vote, and I started bringing them to my home and asking my parents could they live with us and stay with us, and soon they would be living in our homes. But I level forget what was the most traumatic experience of my life,

and that was the Bloody Sun to March. The march was meant to be a big push by organizers to register black voters across Alabama and to attract national press coverage. The plan was to walk peacefully from Selma to the

state capital of Montgomery, fifty four miles. Many threats have been made about the possibilities of what would happen to anyone who would participate on that particular march, and I'll never forget my parents talking to me the night before and telling me that something could possibly happen to me if I participated in that march. Governor Wallace ordered the Highway Patrol chief to use quote whatever measure necessary to

prevent the march from happening. Organizers, including the late Congressman John Lewis and jose A Williams, decided to proceed anyway. On Sunday, March seven, at around noon, six hundred protesters, walking in two lines, left the Brown Chapel Amy Church and headed for the Edmund Pettis Bridge. Tucked into that group of freedom fighters I'll never forget was young Cheyenne. The special instructions that were given by Congressman John Lewis.

He asked that all marches walk quietly, keep their heads straight and forward, and regardless of what happened, everyone would be none wound. At the base of the bridge, the marchers were met by one hundred and fifty Alabama State troopers and sheriff deputies. A state trooper made this announcement over a bullhorn, I'll go you. The marchers did not disperse, They did not go home or back to their church. They stood still, and I remember vividly as I looked down,

it was like a seal. I saw hundreds of police were with tear gas, masks, billy clothes to say, troops on horses. I saw the dogs, and my heart had begun to rumble and beat fast. I just knew, as that little girl, that something was gonna happen for there. The troopers advanced slowly at first, but then picking up speed until they plowed right through the merchers, knocking them down.

Racism unleashed its brutality of policy. Tear gas have begun to burst in the air, and tear gas is a strong, burning sensation where you can't hardly see your way, And as people have begun to run, people were being beaten down with billy clubs. The dogs and the horses were pushing their way into the crowd and trampling people over as if they weren't human leadings. You can see people crawling, falling, crying, bleeding, and of course my eyes were burning and I was running,

like many others, trying to make my way home. I was very frightened, trembling and really not knowing what to do except to get home. And as I was running out. I could still see the horses, the dogs still trampling over people as they were trying to make their way back to Brown's Chapter church. And as I was running, I'll never forget the late Josean Williams picking me up, and my little legs were still galloping in his arms.

My eyes were burning. I couldn't hardly see. And I turned to him and I said to him, in my own childish voice, put me down, because you I'm not running fast. And that picture of bloody Sunday has never left my heart. By my man. The events of that Sunday afternoon were captured by newscasters and journalists, and that night, Sunday Night Movie Will present Stanley Kramer's Academy Award winning

Motion Picture Judgment at Nuremberg. Forty eight million people were watching ABC's broadcast of the star studded movie Judgment at Nuremberg, about the trials that took place in Germany following the Holocaust. And here in our decision, this is what we stand for, justice, true and the value of a single human being. But the network interrupted the movie to report on what happened in some of that day. We interrupt this program to

bring you a special report from ABC News. In the days and weeks that followed, public support for the protesters surged, and a federal judge ruled in favor of the marchers. They told us we wouldn't get here. Fourteen days after bloody Sunday, olds who said that we would get here only over that dead body, Martin Luther King Jr. Successfully Led thousands of demonstrators across the Edmund Pettis Bridge and

onto Montgomery. All the world today knows that we are here, and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama saying we ain't gonna let nobody turn us arid. And because America could not unsee the horrors of that bloody Sunday last March, with the outrage of Solomon still Fration, legislators were motivated to do something about it and asked the Congress and the people for swift and for sweeping action to guarantee to every man

and woman the right to vote. The bill passed the Senate by an overwhelming majority, seven to nineteen. Thus, this is a victory for the freedom of the American and my parents, but it is also a victory for the freedom of the American nation became registered votes and every family across this great, entire searching land, and when they

went to vote, they lived stronger in liberty. They took me with That was one of the most prouder to be American, happiest momentous feeling and laws for me that I've ever had, the Act that you have passed that I will sign today. On August six nine, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law. To understand how important that law has become in the history of this country, author Gilda Daniel says, you can simply look

to how presidents have described it. President Ronald Reagan called it a crown jewel. Lyndon Baines Johnson said that it was monumental, and it was monumental. Indeed, when you think about the power of the Voting Rights Act, you do think about the ability to elect representatives right for people

who can represent you and represent your viewpoints. And and even President Barack Obama attributed the Voting Rights Act to his success because of campaigns like this, essentially said that he would not have been possible the Voting Rights Act

was passed. There was that a Voting Rights Act of political and economic and social barriers came down, and the change these men and women wrought is visible here today in the presence of African Americans who run boardrooms, who sit on the bench, who serve in elected office, from small towns to big cities, from the Congressional Black Caucus, all the way to the old Office because of what

they did. But in two thousand and thirteen, the Voting Rights Act of nineteen sixty five faced a major setback when the Supreme Court ruled that the Voting Rights Act had essentially served its purpose and significantly weakened it. That led states to implement their own laws. For example, within twenty four hours of the Supreme Court decision, Texas announced it would put in place a strict voter I D law.

In oral arguments, we space voting discrimination still exists. No one doubts that the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg led the descent the great man who led the march from Selma to Montgomery. In her argument, she echoed the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Who in nineteen seven presciently said the road ahead would not always be smooth. The ak of the moral universe is long, he said, But it bends towards justice. If there is a steadfast commitment

to see the task through two completion. That commitment has been disserved by today's decision. We'll be right back. What grows in the forest trees, Sure, no one else girls in the forest, Our imagination I sent of wonder, and our family bonds grow too, because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring. I Discover the Forest dot org.

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five new music releases on every week's episode. So if you love country music, I think you'll really enjoy this podcast. And there are so many episodes to binge. Literally hundreds listen to new episodes of The Bobby Cast every Friday on the Nashville Podcast Network, available on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. When you look at all of these issues together, you see the system. This is a system of discrimination. Again,

author and law professor Gilded Daniels. It takes a lot different names. In the nineteen hundreds we called it a poll tax, and the day we called it voter I d or it would used to be a literacy test. Now it's proof of citizenship. So you might have called the different things, but it still has the same impact. It still has the same effect, and that is that

it disproportionately disenfranchises people of color. A big part of that system of discrimination, our felony disenfranchise meant laws which bar people from voting because of prior criminal convictions, and there are some alarming stats that show the racial disparities of those laws. In two thousand nineteen, the Sentencing Project reported that Black Americans who are old enough to vote are more than four times as likely to lose their voting rights than the rest of the adult population. In

some states, one in five black adults is disenfranchised. All told, there are about two point two million Black Americans who are banned from voting because of past convictions. How do you want me to address you, Katie? Really? Okay, alright, no, no, Luckily, there are people fighting to right, that wrong. The loss of civil rights is not something that's highlighted doing fleet

bargain right. At the end of the day, what you're concerned about is how much time you will or will not have to do how soon you can get out of President Desmond Mead is the president and executive director of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, which is dedicated to ending the disenfranchisement and discrimination of people who have been incarcerated,

also known as return citizens. I remember a priest many years ago said that a person is caught for committing a crime, he's convicted, sentenced to prison, who serves this time In the minute he walked out of the prison gates,

that's when his real sentence starts. Now. The reason I wanted to talk to Desmond is that in two thousand eighteen, he was instrumental in passing Amendment four, amendment to Florida's Constitution, the amendment that will restore voting rights to one point five million people who already paid their debt to society and had felony records. That passed, So whatever happens tonight,

that amendment is going to be hugely important. It was an extraordinary achievement personally and professionally because he is also a return citizen. As a young man, Desmond was convicted on drug charges and spent time in prison for possession of a firearm. But his lowest point when he was released, I was standing in front of railroad tracks in South Florida, waiting on a train that comes I can jump in front of it. That day that I stood there, I

was a broken man. I mean, I was homeless, I was addicted to drugs, recently released from prison, unemployed, didn't own anything but the clothes on my back, and I didn't see a light at the end of the time. But own had other plans and that train didn't come, and so I crossed those tracks and I walked about a couple of blocks further and I checked myself into drug treatment. Desmond was able to turn his life around. He went back to school and did so well. He

eventually earned a law degree. Yes, and so the add to that what you said, I'm also a first time author, right, I just wrote my book let My People Vote, that actually talks about the journey. Congratulations, Desmond, that's quite an inspiring story. When did you realize that you were not considered a full citizen by the state of Florida in

the summer of two thousand and six. It was the first time I realized it because I was introduced to for the Rights Restoration Coalition, and that's when I first

learned about the loss of civil rights. It started taking a more prominence when I was in law school and and and and really discovered that even though I was able to overcome so many obstacles, even though I was doing well in law school and I would eventually graduate with my law degree, uh, the Florida Bar would not even allow me to sit for the exam until my

civil rights have been restored. And then I guess the final blow that was like a punch to the gut was in twenty sixteen when my wife Sena ran for office. She wanted to uh become a state representative for Florida. And in the middle of her campaign, someone approached me and said that Desmond, I know that you're excited about being able to vote for your wife, and it like it was like a blow to my gut. Reminded me, wow,

does I live in Florida. I can't even vote for my own wife, you know, forget the fact that presidents in Puerto Rico were able to vote. Forget about the fact that in Maine of Vermont, you know, presidents are able to vote, and throughout this country in Georgia and Texas, uh that people are able to vote after they've served their time. Because I lived in Florida, I wasn't even allowed to vote for my own wife. What were the

rules that were in place that we're disenfranchising all these people? Well, let me tell you, um, prior to Amendment, for anyone convicted of any felony offense lost the right to vote for life, lost all of their civil rights. Now, let me tell you in Florida, that means that if you're driving with a suspended license, you can lose the right to vote for life. If you burn a tire in public, if you go lobster hunt and you catch a lobster which tell is too short, you can lose the right

to vote for life. If you're walking on the beach, you know know, admiring the sunset, and you disturbed turtle nesting eggs, you would lose the right to vote for life. If you're like this gentleman in Broward County on Valentine's Day, rather who, rather than giving his wife a dozen roses, released twelve red balloons in the air. You could lose the right to vote for the rest of your life, and the only chance that you would get those rights back were if you were lucky enough to appear before

the governor and beg him for clemency. Right, bravo, let their feet and understanding that their decision about whether or not to let you be able to vote again is a purely arbitrary decision. You know, let me let me give you some numbers. You know, the current policy that we were under before Amendment four require the person to wait either five or seven years after they have completed their sentence before they're able to just apply to have

their civil rights restored. And then once they apply, we've seen waiting times between eight to ten years, and so you're seeing a person waiting upwards of eighteen years after they have applied to have their righteous stored, and when they walk into the climacy hearing, they stand less than point zero zero one percent of a chance of getting their righteous story. And you know what, this is no longer theoretical right because I myself just went through this

process right to where over nineteen years. Not only have I remained crime free, but I have dedicated my life to give it back to my community, so much so that I've been named Central Floridian of the Year, Floridian of the Year, and even Time magazine one hundred most influential person in the world. And I appear before the Clinacy Board and they can't even make a decision on that.

And so that is the type of process that have been in place prior to him and been four and so you know, we knew that, you know, at the end of the day, that was too much power for four politicians to hold to decide which American citizens get the vote and which don't. Right, no matter what their political party is, whether it's Democrats, Republicans, or whatever. No politicians to have that absolute hour like that, because that leads room for partisan politics to impact those decisions, right,

especially when their arbitrary decisions. And so that was one of the flashpoints that made me believe that we had to take that power out of the hands of politicians and put it in the hands of the people. That's exactly what we did. I wanted to ask you, you're talking about felony convictions, but putting twelve balloons into the air instead of giving someone twelve roses. That's a felony. That's a third degree felony in the state of Florida.

And a quick Google search you will find the story he released the twelve balloons in the air and the and the law enforcement officer seeing them and promptly arrested. So when we hear I think, when the average person

here's felony Desmond, they think a serious crime. And you know, let me tell you something and that and that, uh Katie, let me tell you that is part of my mission is to really expose how politicians can use rhetoric right to divide our country right and and and they divided through through hayden and and fear and create these narratives that make people think about something that actually doesn't exist. Right.

And so, for instance, when you talk about the felony convicts, and you're gonna think of the worst person in the world, and you're more than likely going to think African American because we're paraded more than anyone else. But here's some realities. Even though Florida convicts about a hundred and seventy thousand people a year, less than of them or even sentence to prison. And then even of the overwhelming number of

that small group are there for less serious offenses. When we looked at the entire population of people who have been convicted and incarcerated, what we found was that people convicted of murder and all kinds of felony sexual offenses only made up you ready for this, less than three percent of the total amount of people right who have

been impacted. Right. And so we we we know that, you know that we have this challenge of fighting back against a narrative that's been created not by the people but by politicis that seek to divide this country, because as long as this country is divided, they can't be

held accountable. Right. And so though we fight back at that at every turn, every opportunity that we have to really set the story straight, at the end of the day, at the end of the day, it is in society's best interests that don't matter what a person does, right, if they're convicted, if their sentenced, they paid their debt, and they're they're released back into our community or already in our community, it's in everyone's interests for them to

be able to successfully reintegrate it is in everyone's interests for all of our citizens to participate in election because the more people that vote, the more vibrant our democracy becomes. And that's good for everybody. Tell us about Florida Amendment for because you designed it. Yeah, Yeah. Amendment for was um basically to create a pathway. And and I tell people today that in spite of whatever subsequent legislation may have emerged, the one thing that we know is that

we've already won. We won when we pass Amendment for because, now enshrined in our states Constitution, is an alternate pathway to be able to participate in our democracy without having to beg any politicians. It restores voting rights two individuals who have been convicted of a felony offense who have completed their sentence, as long as they have not been convicted of murder or they have not been convicted of

felony sexual offenses. If those individuals have been convicted of those crimes, there are still a pathway to be able to vote again, but they would have to go through the clinacy process. But everyone else, once they completed their senates, they have the right to vote. We had over five for one million people that voted yes for amendment. For we had a million more people that voted for us than any candidate that was running for governor, which shows the broad base of support that we had. And we

showed the world. We showed the state of Florida that love can, in fact, when the day that we can bring people together, that we don't have to tear each other down, that we could come together along the lines of humanity, in spite of our political differences, in spite of our racial anxieties, that we can bring people together and move major issues that benefit society. But love didn't last, apparently, Desmond, because after this was passed in two thousand and eighteen,

things got complicated. The Republican legislature passed a law s B seven oh six six, basically clarifying the amendment and saying in order to register to vote, felons had to pay their financial penalties. Out of the nearly one point five million felons who regained the right to vote, seven hundred and seventy four thousand lost the right because of debt. I won't say, Katy, I wouldn't say that they lost

the right. I said that they were delayed access to the right that was conferred upon them, you know, and then the other piece of that. Okay, yes, seven hundred and seventy four thousand individuals have some type of legal financial obligation that they have to satisfy before being able

to register the vote. But what that also says is that there are five to six hundred thousand returning citizens that don't have that barrier in front of them, that they can also right now today register to vote and be a part of our democracy. What my ancestors had to fight through the lynchings and the and the dogs

and the fire hoses for that. This franchise is old, dog going important that it needs to be accessible to everyone because the one time, you know, when I walk in that voting move, Katie, I have just as much power as Jeff Bezos. I have just as much power as Bill Gates. That is the one equalizing force in this country is that voting booth. And it should not be barricaded. It shouldn't We should not be prevented from being able to experience that just because we're too poor.

Who will be able to vote in Florida on November three, Oh my god, on November three, They're gonna be like returning citizens who have satisfied their legal obligations or have had others satisfied their legal obligations for them, and have registered to vote. We're gonna be able to show up and participate in election. And you know what, Katie, They're

not coming by themselves. They're bringing their family, they're bringing their friends, they're bringing their immunity to celebrate the expansion of democracy. And I know on November three that they're going to be people that's gonna be walking into that voting booth with their shoulders thrown back in their chests, out right knowing that they are now finally a part of this democracy. And there's gonna be some tears. I

know they are. I know I'm gonna be crying right knowing that that we exist and that I've voiced the matter. And they're people that's waiting. There are people that's literally dying to get to that point right there. And so I can't wait to see what happened. While Desmond Mead continues to fight on behalf of return citizens in court, others are fighting on the ground or over zoom. Good morning, everyone. My name is and if Scott. I'm from the League

of women voters. And what I do with three entry programs is I give voter education, registration and thatte Scott volunteers to help return citizens understand their rights. There's a lot of misinformation out there what people with criminal records can and can't do very state by state. But luckily, and that's a history buff who love sharing her research, most people in New Jersey do not know. The law that prevents people who are incarcerated and previously on albervation

has been in effect since eighteen forty four. The half a dozen people who have joined this call have been recently released from prison and are on parole or probation. The fact that they now have the right to vote in New Jersey is a new law that went into effect just this past March. And when anyone who is incorpirated, as soon as they leave, they can register immediately too. Now what a lot of people do is they asked me, is well, I committed two, three, four whatever felonies, so

I can't vote in New Jersey. And that's not true. Once you're release from any correctional facility, you can register to vote. There's a lot that a NETTE has to cover, like key voting deadlines to receive your application is October thirteenth. How to fill out the registration forms and how to send them in. If you do it online, you're okay. If you don't, just post it on it and you print your own form and she does it one voter at a time. Does anyone have any questions for me?

What is the name of the website to register? Okay? What you can do? Use your local one, which is um Middlesex County dot James. She loves her work, but says the hardest part is hearing why people think the voting isn't important. I think it's a waste of time. I don't want, I don't vote, I never have voted. It doesn't count. It means nothing. Okay, Now, if they saw me, I would be read as a beat tomato

and anything else you could say. Because I get so upset when the citizen does this, because they don't know the history. So then what I do is I go back and tell them. When I was a young child growing up, every night on the news, I watched people trying to register, not vote. Register. They were had dogs set upon them, the police beat them with batons, they were fire holes and the most horrible, horrible thing. Of all,

they were killed, so nothing else. I vote in their honor, and some will say to me, oh, oh I never knew that. Oh okay, our register and there's a few that will say, yeah, okay, well that was then, But I still don't see no use in it. And then I have to tell myself and that you can't convince everyone. If you convince eight or nine out of ten, you're doing good. The tent leave and maybe another day. But

in that Scott refuses to quit. Well, I'm hoping all of you will register, and more than anything, I'm hoping you will vote this year. Whoever it's for, it doesn't matter, but please exercise your right to vote. I thank all of you. I wish you the very best, and if you have any questions and anything else that I can help you with registration. I started will next week on Turnout. You've taken the challenge and you've chosen to be a

disinformation fighter. Put on your cape Democracy Heroes, it's time for your training. You are a newly deputized troll buster. We're so glad to have you on our team. Voter suppression looks a little different these days, and our viral virtual world. How to combat the spread of disinformation. That's

next week on Turnout. Hey, listeners, before we go, I just want to remind you that though we're getting down to the wire, there is still time in some states to check your registration to make sure you can vote in this very important election. To make that process easier, I've partnered with the social justice organization Do Something. Find out how to check your registration or registered to vote

by texting Katie to three A three eight three. You can also go to vote dot org to find out where and how to vote in your state, and of course, subscribe to my morning newsletter wake Up Call for the latest election information. Turnout is a production of I Heart Media and Katie Currek Media. The executive producers are Katie Curic and Courtney Litz, Supervising producers Lauren Hansen. Associate producers Derek Clements, Eliza Costas and Emily Pento. Editing by Derrick

Clements and Lauren Hansen, Mixing by Derrick Clements. Our researcher is Gabriel Loser and special thanks to my right hand woman Adriana Fasio. You can follow me in all my election coverage at Katie Currek. Meanwhile, Yes, I'm Katie Currect. Thanks so much for listening everyone. We'll see you next time. Kenney Jansen here, three time all star in WILF series Champ Hope Yay in California. You always had the feeling that there's something strange about reality. According to the Stuff

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