Protect voting rights for all

Avalon Betts-Gaston remembers her four years in prison through the lens of motherhood. A civically active voter before she was sent to prison for wire fraud, Betts-Gaston found herself unable to participate in the local elections that had consequences for their lives. She felt a disconnect from her community, which she has worked to build back up since being released. Avalon says that “As a mother, you always deserve a voice to advocate for your children and their community.”

Brian Fullman went to jail for two years for selling drugs at 19. After his release, Brian thought he’d lost his right to vote forever. That all changed when his pastor invited him to an event at the Minnesota State Capitol, where one of the speakers addressed voting rights. “Somebody as clear as day said, ‘Some of you probably don’t think you can vote because you’ve been to jail. But did you know if you’re off probation or parole, you can actually go vote?’” Fullman voted in the 2016 presidential election. “It felt so liberating. For the first time, I felt like I was a part of society.” Today, Brian is a lead organizer with Isaiah, a religious nonprofit in Minnesota. He created Barbershops Creating Change in the Community, a coalition of barber and beauty shops that seeks to organize the hardest-to-reach Minnesotans.

After serving 17 years in the New Mexico prison system, Justin Allen had his voting rights restored. “It meant I was no longer state property,” Allen recalled of voting again after so many years away from a ballot machine. “It meant I was a citizen.” Today, Allen works with OLÉ and helps formerly incarcerated people regain their right to vote. He says that voting is “like welcoming people back into society and letting people know that we belong here.”