Category: Voter Stories

North Carolina Voter Turns To VoteRiders For ID Help For A Second Time

BY ERIN CARDEN, DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR, VOTERIDERS — NOVEMBER 30, 2023 When 67 year-old Rosemaria Bowden looked down at her shopping cart and saw that her wallet had vanished, her stomach sank. It was the day before Thanksgiving. She had decided to stop by Walmart to pick up a birthday card for her grandson. One […]

‘I felt whole once I got my driver’s license again,’ said Texas Voter

BY ERIN C., DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR, VOTERIDERS — OCTOBER 18, 2023 In one fell swoop, fifty-one-year-old Fandrea Nazir lost her Social Security card and birth certificate — as well as the birth certificates of her two daughters and two grandchildren — when the folder in which they were stored was mistakenly thrown away by someone at […]

The Power of Partnerships - Working Together To Help Americans in Need

By Pamela Pearson, National Voter ID Assistance Director, North Carolina Voter ID Coalition Coordinator and Deputy General Counsel at VoteRiders — August 9, 2023 Alexander reached out to VoteRiders in early June 2023 after hearing about our free ID services through Community Transitions, one of our North Carolina based partner organizations. He had just been released […]

North Carolinian Can Work Again After Three Years Without Identification

Earl Inscore has been living on the streets of North Carolina for the past three years. Throughout his experience of homelessness, he actively sought employment, but because he lacked proper identification, no one could hire him. After years of attempting to secure his identity documents with little success, Earl was finally able to obtain what […]

North Carolina Resident Can Finally Secure Housing With New Copy of Birth Certificate

JUNE 22, 2023 Thirty-eight-year-old Shakeena Benton didn’t know what to do. After fleeing an abusive relationship and becoming homeless in Charlotte, North Carolina, she finally found safety at a domestic violence shelter run by Safe Alliance. But without a copy of her birth certificate to put on file, she was unable to apply for low-income […]

‘I Have Everything I Need Now’ Says Georgia Voter

If there is one thing to learn from Denise Ellis, it’s that laughter yoga can help you cope with stressful situations – like being at the DMV. Denise is a sixty-nine-year-old laughter yoga instructor who needed a new driver’s license when she moved to Columbus, Georgia, in 2021. Unfortunately, her experience at the DMV reflects […]

‘My New ID is Like My Freedom Papers’ Says Ohio Returning Citizen

After thirty-two and a half years in prison, Willie Florence needed an Ohio state ID so he could apply for a job, secure housing, and begin to rebuild his life again at the age of fifty-one. And with Ohio recently enacting one of the nation’s strictest voter ID laws, he also needed an ID to […]

North Carolina Voter on Road to Recovery After Receiving ID Help from VoteRiders

Bobby Smith was tired of being tired. Twenty-eight years of addiction had taken a toll on his forty-seven-year-old mind and body, and in May 2022 he was ready to turn his life around. After learning about SABER, a North Carolina-based residential recovery program operated by Roof Above, Bobby bought a one-way bus ticket to Charlotte, […]

AZ Grad Student Can Vote Confidently with New ID

After more than two years as an Arizona State University student, 24-year-old Rebecca Tindle was tired of getting questioned whenever she tried to vote with her out-of-state ID. Arizona law permits a voter to use an out-of-state ID as long as they also have another ID with an address that reasonably matches their voter registration. […]