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Outlook: Banned from voting for my wife, so we changed the law

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Desmond and Sheena Meade

12/07/2021 GMT

Banned from voting for my wife, so we changed the law

BBC World Service - Outlook, Banned from voting for my wife, so we changed the law

Desmond and Sheena Meade’s historic battle to give ex-felons the right to vote in Florida

When Sheena Meade ran for office in Florida, her own husband Desmond, as an ex-felon, couldn’t vote for her. Together they led a historic fight to overturn this 150-year-old ban.

When Desmond Meade’s wife Sheena ran for public office in Florida, he wanted nothing more than for her to win. But there was one thing he couldn’t do – vote for her. As an ex-felon, Desmond had a lifetime ban on voting. It was a 150-year-old law that affected over a million people, and so Desmond and Sheena led a historic campaign to overturn it. At times, it felt like an impossible battle that would consume their whole family. And even now after all their successes, that fight is not over. Desmond’s written a book called Let my people vote: my battle to restore the civil rights of returning citizens.

Presenter: Stephanie Hegarty
Producer: Maryam Maruf

Picture: Desmond and Sheena Meade
Credit: Getty Images

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