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Oct 1, 2008 6:35 pm US/Central
NAACP Clearing Up Voting-Rights Confusion
By Arezow Doost
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Some civil rights groups in North Texas are trying to clear up confusion surrounding felons' voting rights.
Many felons don't know they can vote in Texas once they've served their time.
82-year-old Opal Lee, who works with the NAACP, is trying to find every eligible felon in Fort Worth and help them register to vote.
"It's a mighty lot of them who are not registered to vote because they are not aware that they can," she said.
Some states permanently strip felons of their right to vote. Not Texas.
State law says anyone convicted of a felony who has "fully discharged the person's sentence, including any term of incarceration, parole, or supervision, or completed a period of probation ordered by any court" may register to vote.
Lee is helping some felons who have never been able to vote. Anthony Burleson is 29. He's been in and out of jail for years on various drug charges. "I knew I had a right," he said. "My rights were not taken away. I have the right to still do something."
But Lee knows she has to hurry. The deadline to register to vote is Monday.
Asked why she's doing this, she has a straightforward answer. "At 82 years old I never thought I would see a black man be a president candidate and get this far," she said. "So I'm patient about getting every person registered to vote."
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