First Time Voters As a result of recent legislation and policy changes, many citizens in Rhode Island, Maryland and Florida voted in their very first presidential election on November 4. Others voted in their first election since having been incarcerated. Activists, advocates and those formerly disenfranchised like Kimberly Haven and Andres Idarraga cast their long-awaited first vote in an historic presidential election. Mike Kimber was second in line at his New York polling place. "It felt different. You know, I was doing something for the very first time ... I was happy I was able to do this," said Kimber during an interview with Democracy Now. In Minnesota, an estimated 65,000 citizens are ineligible to vote due to felony offenses but resident Andre Corbett made it to the polls last week. "I got off parole Aug. 1, and I went and voted in the primaries," Minnesota Public Radio quoted him as saying. "That was probably the proudest I'd felt in quite a while - just being able to have the sticker and go in and check it off." Having just learned that he could vote and that his rights were restored two years ago, Victor Vazquez registered and voted on the same day in Rhode Island the Providence Journal reported. " ... [T]his means I have a say now. And here I am today, doing my work," said Vazquez. For more coverage, read the Huffington Post and Monsters and Critics.com. Florida: Associated Press New York: Staten Island Advance Arizona: Tucson Citizen Indiana: Journal Gazette Rhode Island: NBC10 National: 'Mass Confusion,' Lawsuits Shadow Election Day 2009 The arrival of last Tuesday's historic Election Day followed a national drive to register and educate voters with felony offenses. Despite advocates' successes in voter education, there was much uncertainty over state laws, inmate voting policies and several legal challenges seeking to overturn state laws were filed, USA Today reported. "It's mass confusion," stated Nancy Abudu, staff counsel for the voting rights unit of the American Civil Liberties Union. Miller-McCune Magazine also featured an article on disenfranchisement's past and present, and the movement to get voting rights restored nationally. "Felon disfranchisement affects not only the individual whose vote has been taken away; it's not just what voting-rights lawyers call a vote-denial claim. It's also a vote-dilution claim," said Juan Cartagena, a civil rights lawyer and the general counsel for the Community Service Society in New York. "That relative political power is taken away from the neighbors of persons who come back home (and) from their family members. Their relative collective voting strength is wiped off the map almost." Georgia: To Vote, or Not to Vote Editor in chief of the Sunday Paper applauded rapper T.I. and other celebrities with felony convictions who rallied others to vote in last week's election, but in an op- ed, Kevin Forest Moreau also grapples with the issue of restoring voting rights to those with certain convictions. "Should those perpetrators be given the chance to redeem their place in civilization?" he wrote. "Absolutely - depending on the severity of the crime ... But should they retain every right-or privilege-they enjoyed prior to breaking that social contract? That one's a little harder to say "yes" to." Oklahoma: Legislator Supports Vote Restoration Sen. Judy Eason McIntyre, of Tulsa, hopes to introduce legislation to restore voting rights once a citizen is released from prison in 2009, the Tulsa World reported. Sen. McIntyre said she will speed up the time it takes to restore voting rights. Currently, state law prohibits individuals from registering to vote until the full length of their sentence has been carried out and are no longer supervised by the Department of Corrections. California: Report Says Felony Disenfranchisement 'Single Greatest Factor Excluding People of Color' The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (ACLU-NC) has released a report entitled, Making Every Vote Count: Reforming Felony Disenfranchisement Policies and Practices in California, that explains why and how felony disenfranchisement laws may be the single greatest factor excluding people of color from the political process. A key component of the report is its documentation of widespread confusion among eligible voters and public agencies about who is and is not eligible to vote in California. - - - - - - Help The Sentencing Project continue to bring you news and updates on disenfranchisement! Make a contribution today. Contact Information -- e-mail: [email protected], web: http://www.sentencingproject.org