Voting rights advocacy groups, including Free Hearts and Campaign Legal Center, have been visiting Davidson County jails throughout this week to register incarcerated Tennesseans soon to be released.
A lot of times when people are behind bars, they miss out on what’s taking place in their community, says Theeda Murphy with Free Hearts. She was at the Davidson County Correctional Center on Harding Place Wednesday, making sure people were informed and prepared to vote in the upcoming election.
“Most of the people in here are coming out pretty quickly. It’s a jail so they’re constantly turning over,” said Murphy. “They’re going to be coming home. They’re going to be being out in the community. A lot of them will be out in time to vote in August. So, we’re trying to make sure that everyone who can vote gets a chance to vote.”
The group is run by Free Hearts and includes Disability Rights Tennessee, Civic Tennessee, and Campaign Legal Center. Murphy says this week alone they’ve helped around 45 people register to vote.
For people who cannot vote because they have felony records, she guides them on how to get back their voting rights.
The deadline to register in the upcoming election for Davidson County mayor is July 5.
According to a 2022 report, Tennessee has more than 470,000 residents who cannot vote due to a felony conviction — second only to Florida.
Update: This story has been updated to include the names of two organizations working on the registration effort.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM