47abc
February 3, 2021
MARYLAND – Local lawmakers and voting rights activists are working to make sure that Maryland’s formerly and currently incarcerated individuals can make their votes count. “Our elections should not leave any voter behind. Yet, we’re having to introduce this bill because there is a particular population of eligible and incarcerated individuals that are shut out of voting,” said Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins.
The Value My Vote Act has bipartisan support in Maryland’s House and Senate. It would require the State Board of Elections to provide information about eligible inmates’ rights as voters. It would also require election information and resources to be provided to inmates during election years. Bill advocates say during the 2020 general election, it was near impossible to ensure that incarcerated people who still had their right to vote could exercise that right. “We need to know how many of these individuals actually received these forms, how
St. Louis Public Radio
Members of the Public Safety Committee of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, along with supporters and opponents of an aerial surveillance program, participate in a video conference meeting of the committee on Tuesday.
A controversial aerial surveillance program has cleared its first hurdle at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
The board’s Public Safety Committee voted 6-1 Tuesday to endorse a three-year contract with Ohio-based Persistent Surveillance Systems.
“The stated goals, quite frankly, of the bill and of the agreement is justice for victims and their families,” said Alderman Tom Oldenburg, D-16th Ward, the sponsor of the legislation. “2020 was the most violent year we have seen in 50 years. We have to immediately have an active plan that will enhance our existing technology to bring more justice to those 262 families and all of those who have fallen victim to homicide and other violent crimes.”