I’m angry.

This morning, I walked out to my Element, and one of my neighbors, Tia, was sitting out in her folding chair smoking.

She does that every morning, shifting the chair around on the sidewalk to catch every drop of the morning sun.

She called out. “Good morning, Mr. Benjamin!”

“Morning, Tia! Catching the sun?”

“You know it! Gotta catch all that good vitamin D! Happy election day! You gonna vote today?”

I told her how I already had, dropping my ballot off up the street.

“How about you?” I asked.

She took a puff of her cigarette and lowered her voice.

“Can’t.” She lowered her voice even further. “I’m a convicted felon. I’m not trying to get locked up.”

“Wait.” I was stunned. “You’re allowed to vote. It’s ok.”

She took another drag and side eyed me. “No way. My friend, she lives in another state, she went to vote last election, and they locked her ass up. I can’t do all that.”

“But you’re in Maryland,” I protested. “They changed that law 8 years ago. You’re good!”

“What? Are you serious? That’s real?” her eyebrows raised.

“8 years ago. I promise. They passed that bill. You can vote in every single election.”

“Shit.” She thought a moment. “SHIT. Yeah. I’m going. Fuck Trump.”

“Fuck Trump.” I responded.

I drove off.

I looked it up. It was only 4 years ago, not 8. March 10, 2016. All convicted felons had their voting rights restored.

https://elections.maryland.gov/voter_registration/restoration.html

That’s the thing about voter suppression.
It doesn’t just have effects in the state that it happens in.
It spreads.

If you are a convicted felon, and live in Maryland, YOU CAN VOTE.

Even if you’re not registered, you can vote TODAY.

You can register to vote AND VOTE today at these locations: https://elections.maryland.gov/about/county_boards.html

Here are even more locations to register in person: https://boe.baltimorecity.gov/boe-registration