41,000 Missourians just got the right to vote back. Many don't know it.
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Thousands of Missourians on felony probation or parole can register to vote for the first time this fall, and voting rights groups are pushing the state to make sure they know it.
The big picture: Missouri changed its ban on voting during felony probation and parole last month, restoring voting rights to more than 41,000 people, per The Sentencing Project, and the registration deadline for the Nov. 3 election is four weeks away.
By the numbers: However, more than 10,000 Missourians on supervision still can't vote because their convictions are for crimes the law excludes, per The Sentencing Project's estimates.
- Neither Corrections nor the Secretary of State's office publishes a county-level count, so how many newly eligible voters live in the KC metro is unknown.
- The closest thing to a local figure: Corrections' staffing pages say its three Jackson County offices handle roughly 5,000 supervision cases a year combined.
How it works: Missouri used to bar anyone with a felony conviction from voting until they finished their entire sentence, including the years spent under supervision in the community.
- HB 1871, a Republican-sponsored measure signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe in July, changed that: For people whose convictions aren't among the offenses specifically excluded by the new law, the right to vote now returns the moment someone leaves prison.
- People on supervision for crimes including murder and sex offenses still must first finish probation or parole.
- The Sentencing Project estimates those still barred make up about 20% of Missourians under supervision.
What they're saying: "You can register today, and it will be valid," Lieberman tells Axios.
- Her coalition plans to urge prosecutors not to charge mistaken registrations as fraud.
What's next: The coalition's demand letters ask the department to notify each person leaving prison of their eligibility and hand them a registration application.
- The Department of Corrections did not respond to Axios' questions about the letters.
- The deadline to register for the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 7, and absentee voting starts Sept. 22. The election protection hotline is 866-687-8683.