Military Veteran Rodney Lofton on What Voting for the First Time Meant to Him

I currently work four days a week at the First Christian Church in Mobile, Alabama as part of the Second Chance Program – and I am proud to say today that I am a voter. But it wasn’t always this way.

Although I am 49-years old, a veteran that served four years in the military (in Jacksonville, Florida), and have been living in Mobile for 32-years, I had my voting rights taken away from me.

Before I was stripped of my rights because of a conviction back in 2015, I didn’t vote. A lot of minorities, particularly people in the black community here in Mobile do not vote for a variety of reasons. People feel disconnected from the political process and many are confused about who can and can’t vote. Many people here think that a crime disqualifies them from voting, even misdemeanors. The state has not put much effort into educating citizens about this.

But in September 2018, I was approached by Ellen Boettcher of the Alabama Voting Rights Project, which is a partnership between the Campaign Legal Center and Southern Poverty Law Center. She told me that not all convictions deny you of the right to vote. Mrs. Ellen gave me the paperwork and walked me through the rights restoration process. I got a voter registration card in the mail and cast a ballot in November’s elections – for the first time in my life. Even after Mrs. Ellen helped me out, I almost couldn’t vote. On Election Day, my truck broke down. The pastor at First Christian Church helped me get to the polls by giving me a ride. By giving me a ride to the polls, it encouraged me because it showed that someone had my back and cared that I voted.