Voting rights advocates celebrated the court’s decision but they remain outraged at Evnen and Hilgers for the confusion and delays they created. The timing of the court’s decision gives advocates little opportunity to help people who might be confused about their voting rights because of Evnen and Hilgers: It came just two days before the Oct. 18 deadline to register to vote online. The cutoff for people to register in person is next week, Oct. 25.
“The rush to get this word out is going to be intense,” Aaron Pettes, a formerly incarcerated organizer in Nebraska, told Bolts. “The challenge now is to shout about it from the rooftops.”
Pettes, 44, has never voted and says he’s thrilled that he’ll now get to. But he is also concerned that time is running out to convince others to engage in a process of voting “that essentially booted them out” less than two months ago.
“Letting people know is one thing, but getting them to reinvest, to actually cast a ballot, will be hard, but not impossible,” he said. …