Unlock Your Vote: LULAC Works to educate ex- felons about Voting rights

When an inmate is nearing release from a Texas correctional institution, he or she knows they will be given a set of civilian clothing, a bus ticket home and $50. What they might not know on the day they board that bus is that paying their debt to society also allows them to regain their right to vote. LULAC, which is the oldest and largest national organization representing Hispanic voters, endorsed the Unlock Your Vote program at its recent national convention in San Antonio, said Richard DeLeon, president of local LULAC Council #654. "The program is to educate former felons that once they've finished with parole and probation and have all the paper work straightened out they have the right to vote," he said. "A lot of felons don't know that," DeLeon said, adding that he was not even aware until earlier this year that voting rights can be restored. [more]