GOP-Run Missouri Becomes Latest State to Roll Back Felony Disenfranchisement

Lieberman credited this year’s breakthrough in large part to the advocacy of Republican state Representative Melanie Stinnett, who has often said publicly that she developed an interest in this topic after meeting a disenfranchised man while knocking doors on the campaign trail. 

“I saw the impact on a person in my district,” she told KCUR in Kansas City, adding that she is compelled by evidence that people whose voting rights are restored are less likely to be re-incarcerated: “If we can get people engaged and keep them out of our jails and prisons, then I think we should be doing everything we can.”