One of 2023's greatest victories for voter access just happened in Minnesota.

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Welcome to the March edition of The Lever – hitting your inbox as some state legislatures approach key deadlines, while others prepare to gavel in. Our democracy is strongest when everyone has a voice.

Earlier this month, Minnesota enacted a new law ([link removed]) that will make it the 22nd state ([link removed]) to restore voting eligibility to those with past felony convictions immediately upon their release from incarceration – one of the greatest victories for voter access in 2023. But such a victory didn't come out of nowhere. In this month's Hot Policy Take ([link removed]) , we take a look at the remarkable momentum to establish, strengthen, and expand voter access for those with past convictions – not just in Minnesota, but all across the country.

Later in this issue we take a look back at Ohio's new strict photo ID law – the topic of our January Hot Policy Take ([link removed]) – with the Associated Press' coverage ([link removed]) of the serious concerns from those who face new obstacles to the ballot box. We also shine a light on The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities ([link removed]) , which published a recent story in The Texas Tribune ([link removed]) about their mission to fix issues with the infamous 2021 Senate Bill 1 ([link removed]) while also making progress on the state's ballot tracking and cure rules.

Looking for what’s happening in state legislative sessions this year? Look no further than The Markup ([link removed]) – our weekly newsletter with legislative updates for voting rights insiders. Check it out to see what we're following as states enter various stages of the legislative calendar. Right now, we're tracking 1,653 individual pieces of legislation in all 50 states.


** HOT POLICY TAKE
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A decades-old conviction can deny a citizen’s access to the ballot box in some states – sometimes even for a lifetime. In fact, in the U.S. today, 4.6 million citizens – more than the entire population of the metropolitan areas of Seattle or Tampa – cannot vote due to a felony conviction, according to the Sentencing Project ([link removed]) .

A nationwide patchwork of state constitutions and laws ([link removed]) means that a person’s zip code determines whether or not they can vote. In 26 states ([link removed]) , citizens with a past felony conviction who are living, working, and paying taxes in their communities cannot participate in our democracy. The good news is lawmakers are working to change this: more than 100 bills in 26 states ([link removed]) introduced this year would improve voting access for those with a past felony conviction.

Across the country, states including Iowa, Connecticut, New York, Minnesota, and Washington have each taken steps to improve access to the ballot box for those with past felony convictions – Minnesota enacting a law to restore eligibility upon release from incarceration just earlier this month. The story today is one of momentum. Read more to see why.
READ THE HOT POLICY TAKE NOW ([link removed])


** BY THE NUMBERS
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160,000

That's the estimated number of people with past felony convictions who have had their freedom to vote automatically restored due to enacted legislation or executive action since 2020. Those 160,000 people span five states – Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, and Washington.
SEE OUR TRACKER FOR MORE ([link removed])


** WHAT WE'RE READING
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Ohio enacted the first major restrictive election law in 2023 ([link removed]) , and with it, established one of the strictest photo ID laws in the nation ([link removed]) . As lawmakers in Nebraska and North Carolina consider similar proposals – and lawmakers in Idaho recently banned student IDs ([link removed]) from use at the polls – The Associated Press ([link removed]) spoke with the Ohioans, including the veterans who saw their popular and widely-available veteran ID cards removed from the list of valid ID, who face new obstacles to the ballot box:

“People find reasons to fix something that doesn’t need to be fixed,” said Larry Anderson, 85, a veteran from Columbus who has found the veteran ID card a convenience. “Veterans could come back from the wars and not have a driver’s license and not drive a car, and it just creates more problems for them.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ([link removed])


** FROM OUR PARTNERS
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Texans from all walks of life face undue barriers to the ballot box. Last year, thousands of Texans saw their ballots thrown out due to a new – and confusing – ID requirement for mail ballots. Millions more saw newly-empowered poll watchers authorized to question their every move.

The Coalition of Texans with Disabilities ([link removed]) is all too familiar with attacks on voter access across the Lone Star State. The group fought back and defeated some of the most onerous and unconstitutional proposals debated in the state's last legislative session, and now, they're once again hard at work to ensure access for people with disabilities in the second most populous state in the union. Between fixes to the infamous Senate Bill 1 ([link removed]) and room to improve the state's current ballot tracking and cure options, keep an eye on CTD and their work in 2023.
READ MORE FROM THE TEXAS TRIBUNE ([link removed])


** THE MARKUP
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The Markup is VRL’s weekly legislative update for voting rights insiders. As state legislative sessions begin to advance bills, yesterday's edition of The Markup cut through the noise with the election updates you need.

Here’s a snippet from this week’s edition ([link removed]) – a sample of what you can expect each week:

Washington, D.C. expansion of automatic registration to go into effect. The review period during which the U.S. Congress, with the president’s signature, can block city legislation from going into effect has ended for Bill 951 ([link removed]) , which Mayor Muriel Bowser signed in December. This bill will expand automatic voter registration to the Department of Health Care Finance and modify existing automatic registration at the DMV. Everyone who interacts with the DMV, DHCF, or Department of Corrections and is not determined to be ineligible to vote will automatically be put on a preapproved-for-registration list that entitles them to vote and, upon Bill 507 ([link removed]) becoming law, will result in their being mailed a ballot for each election.

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