Nationwide, an estimated six million individuals are disenfranchised because of their criminal backgrounds and over three-quarters of these individuals have completed their sentences, reports the Sentencing Project. These data, as well as the complex process of restoring voting rights in Tennessee, will be the topic of the June League of Women Voters meeting, open to the public, in Chattanooga.
Chattanooga City Attorney Wade Hinton will speak about the restoration of voting rights and expungement of criminal records on June 8. The meeting will be on the 4th floor of the Chattanooga public library's downtown branch (1001 Broad St.) at 6 p.m., and the public is invited.
More than 7 percent of the adult population of Tennessee is estimated to be disenfranchised as the result of a past criminal conviction according to the Restore My Rights Initiative. This Initiative, launched in 2016, is “a platform that assists individuals in navigating the process of restoring their rights to vote and/or having their records expunged” reports Vanessa Meachen, legal assistant to the city attorney. The website (restoremyrights.com) includes a step-by-step guide, as well as information on how to contact the city attorney’s office for help in the process.
At a recent City Council meeting, Demetrus Coonrod, new Chattanooga City Councilmember from District 9, thanked Mr. Hinton “for all of [his] hard work in helping felons restore their rights.” She continued to say “You know that’s something that I am very passionate about. I most definitely want the opportunity to work with [Mr. Hinton] to continue that moving forward, to make sure that convicted felons’ rights are restored and they become productive members of society and they are also getting their citizenship rights restored.”