Marissa Alexander Campaigning For Voting Rights

Alexander made national headlines in 2010 after she fired a warning shot at her abusive husband—a man who had threatened to kill her—but was denied the “stand your ground” defense because the prosecutor claimed, many critics say wrongly, she could have escaped. She was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. She served more than five years between county jail and prison while fighting the case before an appellate court judge ordered a new trial over a technicality. Though she has been out of prison and free from house arrest for nearly two years, Alexander still cannot vote because Florida’s voting laws permanently strip residents of their right to vote if they are convicted of a felony. Alexander’s had to settle for volunteering with local organizations to get the word out about Amendment 4, which will overturn the law, and uses Instagram to convince people to vote yes for the measure.

“Yes, it is frustrating to an extent,” Alexander said while she watched over her 8-year-old daughter, Rihanna. “But being able to have people’s ear ... is just as valuable as being able to vote because I believe there will be a day when we will be able to vote. If I cannot be part of the civil human right of voting, I can be a part of making a difference in terms of how people view it.”

Many believe Alexander was another black victim of predatory prosecution, robbing her of her freedom and a constitutional right others died for. But her fortunes could change Nov. 6 if 60 percent of Floridians vote “yes” on Amendment 4, which would restore voting rights to people convicted of most felonies. Those convicted of murder and sex offender-related charges would be excluded.

As of now, more than 1.5 million people in the state of Florida cannot vote because of felony convictions; 1 in 5 of the disenfranchised are black. No state in the union has a higher rate of such disenfranchisement. The only recourse for those like Alexander is to apply for restoration with the state’s clemency board officials, a process local activists say is unfair and arbitrary. Iowa and Kentucky are the other states that impose lifetime disenfranchisement of voting rights unless a pardon is granted.

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I have so much respect for Marissa Alexander and for everything that she's doing. Her sentence really does show racial bias when it comes down to the Florida Stand Your Ground law. I think the Law only applies to Caucasians and not people of color. George Zimmerman was able to use the defense although he was told not to follow Trayvon Martin and literally stalking him for no reason.