Election Laws May Discourage Some From Voting, Even If They Are Allowed

In Georgia, Merritt Hubert was kicked off the voting rolls in 2015, accused of not living at the address on file (the yellow home on the left behind him). “Basically, I think it’s a racism thing,” said Hubert. “They want whites to run the town.”

Asma Khalid / NPR

Jagada Chambers was sent to prison for attempted second-degree murder in 2000. The story, as he tells it, was that he was on spring break with friends during college and got into a physical altercation with an acquaintance.

He was released four years later, in August 2004, and his understanding was that his voting rights were gone forever.

This all happened in Florida, which permanently bars citizens with felony convictions from voting, unless they receive an individual exemption after a hearing from the state’s clemency board, led by the governor.