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Recovery Voices Count 2010
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Former Felon Voter Mobilization Phonebank
by Dave Newton, May-11-2010
KF
TC leader Tayna Fogle organized a voter mobilization phone bank in Lexington staffed by an incredible 35 former felons who came from Lexington, Georgetown, and Nicholasville. Together, they called over 700 people who have signed postcards to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.
The calls were simple voter mobilization calls that our members have been making all over the state to make sure people are set to vote in next week's Primary Election - making sure they know their voting location, etc.
But because the callers were former felons, most of whom don't have the right to vote themselves, the phonebank was especially powerful - to the volunteers because they got to make an impact on the election that they wouldn't normally be able to participate in - and for the people they they called because the messengers illustrated the value of the right to vote.
"I think this was great. I'm a former felon myself and it's great to see so many people getting to help get people out to the polls"- Eugenia Howard
"This is an uplifting experience. I've never done anything like this before and it's great to give back. I just talked to one guy who's away in Chicago for the next few days, and it was good to connect with him and get him thinking about how to get his vote in back in Lexington in time." - Timothy Newsome.
"I have three technical degrees and I'm a veteran. These felonies are just killing me. It's so hard to get a job with a record and losing the right to vote just makes it that much harder." - Ricky Lovins