As Americans last year debated the elections, Victor Sauceda endured tough conversations with friends and others talking about their votes.
Sauceda, 31, was released from prison in October 2019, he said, after serving time for felony convictions — meaning he couldn’t vote last November.
“I just feel that shame that goes along with it, telling them I could not vote,” said Sauceda. “I felt like I was not good enough to vote.”
That dynamic changed Wednesday as Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill restoring the right to vote for Washingtonians convicted of felonies automatically upon their release from incarceration.
Under House Bill 1078, roughly 20,000 people would regain their right to vote, according to the state Department of Corrections.