Election Day voting rights victories in Florida and Michigan

Thanks to the activism of CREDO members and our allies on the ground, progressives scored two big voting rights victories in Florida and Michigan on Election Day 2018.

Florida

In Florida, voters approved the Florida Voting Restoration Amendment (Amendment 4), a ballot measure that will restore voting rights for nearly 1.5 million Floridians who have served time for felony convictions.

Florida was 1 of only 4 states that imposed a lifetime voting ban on all citizens convicted of a felony. This ban prevented 1 in 5 Black Floridians from ever participating in our democracy. It was an unjust law the state passed in 1868, rooted in the racism of Jim Crow. Thanks in part to CREDO members who made calls to voters, more than a million Floridians will have their voting rights restored.

Michigan

In Michigan, voters approved Proposal 2, an effort to strengthen democracy in the state and end gerrymandering. Republicans had manipulated the redistricting process, drawing election maps and hand-picking their voters to protect and build power in the state legislature and Congress.

Proposal 2 will amend the state Constitution to create an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission that will draw the state legislative and congressional districts using a set of strict criteria that prevents partisan influence, bias or manipulation. This important victory will also serve as model legislation for voters in other battleground states resisting Donald Trump’s authoritarian attacks on voting rights, civil rights and civil liberties.

CREDO members joined thousands of activists in Michigan pledging to vote “yes” on Proposal 2, which passed overwhelmingly by nearly 1 million more votes.