Clergy and Faith Leaders, add your voice by signing this open letter for voter restoration.

To the Members of the Minnesota House and Senate,

As clergy and faith leaders representing congregations across Minnesota, we urge our state elected officials to support the full restoration of voting rights to Minnesotans in our communities on probation and parole.

Faith leaders, like most Minnesotans, recognize that people who have experienced incarceration need to experience restoration and redemption in society. Restoring their rights of citizenship, restores them of their voice and dignity.

Every citizen of the United States has an obligation and a duty to vote. Voting is a right that cannot and should not be taken away from any citizen of the U.S. No matter your race, area code, or income, every Minnesota citizen has an equal say in what happens in our state and our community. Denying Minnesotans the ability to vote not only denies a right, but it denies them the ability to fulfill their civic obligation to our democracy.

Minnesota has long been a leader when it comes to democracy and restoring the right to vote will bring the freedom to vote back to over 55,000 Minnesotans. All of their voices matter and we can't leave any of them behind.

Over 55,000 Minnesota citizens have had their freedom to vote blocked, even though they have completed their prison sentence and returned home to raise families, work jobs, pay taxes and contribute to society. They should be encouraged to reenter society and have a stake in their community, not be punished by having their voting rights denied. 

Furthermore, well documented biases in the criminal justice system mean that poor people and people of color are more likely to be incarcerated than their white counterparts. For many people, life after prison means partial citizenship, as formerly incarcerated people often experience limited opportunities for employment, housing, and voting. As we work to reimagine our criminal legal system to be more fair and equitable, one of the first changes we can make is to restore voting rights to people who are most impacted by that system, inside and outside prisons.

We can't have an elected government that represents all of us when some groups are being excluded from our elections and denied the ability to participate in our democracy.

We're counting on your leadership at this crucial moment, because there is no freedom without the freedom to vote.