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, […]
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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. […]
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Carolina fled an abusive relationship that left her with broken ribs, a punctured left lung and destroyed belongings — including her state identification. After a six-day stay at a hospital in Florida, Carolina left with a doctor’s prescription for pain medication, but no pharmacy could dispense the pills unless she presented her ID. She was also […]
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Transgender voters face significant barriers getting to the ballot box to cast a vote that counts. Chanel Riser’s story illustrates the variety of problems the transgender community continues to experience in legally changing their names and getting an ID to vote that reflects their chosen name and gender. Chanel — a 38-year-old hair stylist living […]
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Mercedes Daniels had given up on voting in Florida’s midterm elections. Even though she’d finally gotten her Florida ID to vote with the help of VoteRiders earlier this year, she was displaced by Hurricane Ian in late September and couldn’t afford to make it back to the polling place where she’s registered to vote. But […]
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(TIME Magazine published a feature Nov. 7 with portraits of Georgia voters who have not had an easy time getting to vote this year. This is one of the portrait/profiles.) Keith Bowens, 56, Lithonia, Georgia Needed ID Keith Bowens didn’t realize he needed an ID to vote until he got a postcard about it in […]
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When Eric’s boss offered him a promotion, he never thought an expired ID would cost him the offer — and his job. But that’s what happened to Eric, a young man who moved to North Carolina and began to build a new life for himself after successfully securing a new job using his then-current New […]
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Before Jey’nce knew about VoteRiders, changing her legal name felt like wishful thinking. But when she found out that her friend and ally — Tracy Pease — would be starting a new position at VoteRiders as Detroit Organizer, her hope reawakened. Everyone who knows Jey’nce Poindexter knows that she is a leader. The 38-year-old transgendered […]
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Jay is a 40-year-old FedEx driver from North Carolina who loves playing video games, spending time with his stepchildren, and grilling. In 10 months, Jay will have a new house, and in a little over a year he will be picking up and delivering loads as a self-employed truck driver. According to Jay (whose name […]
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While voter ID laws silence millions of Americans, they hit some communities harder than others. Voters with disabilities are especially affected by voter ID laws because of the challenges they face in getting identification. Many don’t drive so they don’t have driver’s licenses, and they also don’t have their own transportation, making it difficult to […]
Read More2022 has been an extremely difficult year for Rosari Williams, a 54-year-old Floridian who became houseless after losing her mother in January. While Ms. Wiliams received her mother’s inheritance, it remained locked away for several months. The reason: she didn’t have an ID. Then, she met Eli Garcia from VoteRiders. In June, Ms. Williams told […]
Read MoreMeet Jovonte! Jovonte is an 18-year-old living in Florida who works at Subway and loves to cut hair. After graduating high school in June, Jovonte needed an ID to get a job. Luckily, he was connected to VoteRiders through Sage Shared Living, a group home where he has resided since aging out of foster care. […]
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Mac was holding up a sign outside a McDonald’s when VoteRiders’ Florida Voter ID Coalition Coordinator Jazlyn Gallego approached him. Reading his sign and learning that Mac was houseless, Jazlyn wondered if he was in need of voter ID. She handed him a card that included information on how VoteRiders could help him get one. […]
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A multiple sclerosis diagnosis, a job loss, an eviction, and a flood that destroyed most of their important documents – these are the calamities that forced Roger and Sandra, their son Evan, (names changed for privacy), and the couple’s younger children out of their southeast coastal Virginia home in 2016. To add to their woes, […]
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As a 70-year-old living on the streets of Virginia, William’s only chance of escaping the relentless rain and bitter cold was to apply for housing assistance. To do that, he first needed an ID. Luckily, William got his ID with help from VoteRiders, but the many obstacles our dedicated and resourceful volunteer overcame to secure […]
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When Stephen and Mary Beth Wagner moved from Alabama to Chandler, Arizona, in the fall of 2020, they were not able to vote in the presidential election. “We actually haven’t been able to vote in several years due to moving from state to state for our work,” Stephen said recently. But now they’re ready for […]
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Turned away at her polling place because of an expired ID in 2020, Joan Scott turned to VoteRiders recently for help getting an ID so she can vote in upcoming elections. “Freedom of speech is important to me,” Joan said, recalling how she felt when Florida poll workers sent her home because her ID had […]
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MARCH 25 – JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — See the inspiring follow-up to First Coast Florida’s story about Dorothy Canning, who VoteRiders helped navigate the Florida DMV to get her ID so she can continue receiving her life-saving medication.
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Dolly Canning found herself in an almost impossible situation. She needed a current state ID card to get a critical medical test to continue getting her prescription medication. But Dolly’s Florida ID card expired in 2017. And despite four trips to the local DMV office, she couldn’t get one because she didn’t have a vital […]
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Laura was staying at a women’s shelter in Columbus, Georgia when VoteRiders met her at our inaugural Voter ID Clinic sponsored by Aflac and hosted by Open Door. She needed to obtain a Georgia ID, not only so she could exercise her right to vote, but also to secure employment and housing. We were able […]
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I met Montrell as I was canvassing the streets of Downtown Orlando on a Sunday afternoon with our partner organizations, Bring It Home Florida and Global Shapers. I handed him a flyer and he asked for more information on VoteRiders. After hearing about our voter ID services, Montrell shared that he was eager to vote […]
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By Jazlyn Gallego, VoteRiders’ Florida Voter ID Coalition Coordinator By the time I met Patricia White at a voter education forum in New Smyrna Beach, she had been trying to obtain a state ID for 10 months. Since moving to Florida from Pennsylvania, she had been repeatedly turned away from the DMV. Like many married woman, Patricia’s […]
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January 2019 – CENTRAL FLORIDA – Steven is a veteran of the United States Army from Seminole County, Florida. He met our Florida Coordinator, Jazlyn Gallego, at a Goodwill Job Fair. Steven approached Jazlyn to ask if he was now able to vote without his felony history being a barrier because of the passage of Amendment 4. […]
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September 2018 – ARIZONA – Lily (not her real name) fled Wyoming after a divorce from an abusive marriage. She moved to Arizona with an expired Wyoming driver’s license. Her birth certificate and Social Security card bear her maiden name, and her expired Wyoming license shows her married name. She took all three documents to the […]
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November 2018 – ORLANDO, FL – See video below! Daniel Molina is a senior at the University of Central Florida. He is an active and enthusiastic voter who recently interned for a local campaign. He met our Florida Coordinator Jazlyn Gallego at a university voting event. Daniel’s FL state ID was expired, and his UCF […]
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October 2018 – DELAND, FLORIDA – Michael Frank met VoteRiders at a Goodwill Job Connection Center Job Fair. He came ready with a social security card and birth certificate and asked if Jazlyn Gallego, our Florida Coordinator, could help him renew his expired ID to vote. Michael had previously registered to vote in New York […]
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– by Anita Johnson, VoteRiders’ Wisconsin Voter ID Coalition Coordinator Last month I had the opportunity to help a young voter obtain ID to vote in Milwaukee. The case illustrates some of the common obstacles and frustrations that voters, especially African-American, face when trying to secure their constitutional right to vote. Anita Abraham posted on […]
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Yvonne Moore shares the story of how her great-grandfather inspired her passion for democracy and voting rights. Yvonne Moore is the Principal Advisor at Moore Philanthropy. We are very grateful for the chance to share her story! Have you ever heard of a poll tax? This is a copy of my paternal great-grandfather’s poll tax receipt. […]
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Genya (a.k.a @ElectionBabe on Twitter) is an election official in Florida, so how could SHE ever have a problem with voter ID? During a cross-country move in 2013, she lost her driver’s license. Even with an original California birth certificate, Social Security Card, expired passport, and bank statement with her new address, the Georgia DMV would not […]
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Marine veteran Dennis Hatten was initially denied an ID to vote by the Wisconsin DMV office in Milwaukee because his birth certificate had a mistake. It took six months of persistence by VoteRiders’ Wisconsin Statewide Coordinator, Anita Johnson, before Dennis was finally able to vote. Anita met Dennis in September 2015 at the Vet’s Place, […]
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Debra is a lifelong resident of Madison, WI and a lung cancer survivor. She lives in an apartment complex for low-income people with disabilities. She no longer drives, and had let her WI driver’s license expire. Debra didn’t realize that she would not be able to use her expired license to vote until she talked […]
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Nefertiti Helem and her partner, Ernest Barksdale, moved to Milwaukee from Chicago in 2013. Until VoteRiders and Citizen Action organizers visited their apartment complex for low-income seniors and people with disabilities, they didn’t realize that their Social Security cards or their Illinois IDs would not be valid for voting. Neither Ernest nor Nefertiti drive. Battling […]
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Steve Pacewicz, a veteran, hasn’t had stable housing in a while. At times, his truck was his home. He needs his vehicle to do the odd jobs that he relies on for income. When he lost his Wisconsin driver’s license, he ordered a duplicate but the request was lost in the DMV system. Steve contacted […]
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Shortly after his 18th birthday, Alfonzo went to a voter registration event at his Madison, Wisconsin high school and met VoteRiders’ National Campaign Coordinator. He was looking forward to voting for the first time, but did not have a valid photo ID. Traveling to the DMV to obtain his voter ID would likely be unproductive: […]
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One Wisconsin family’s dilemma over voter ID from VoteRiders on Vimeo. Matt and Jessica Hegdahl moved to Wisconsin from Montana a few months before the Spring 2016 primary election. They registered to vote, but when they talked to VoteRiders at a local church, they found out that they could not use their valid MT driver’s licenses as ID at […]
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