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Violence and arrests at campus protests across the nation; CA election worker turnover has soared in recent years; Pediatricians: Watch for the rise of eating disorders in young athletes; NV tribal stakeholders push for Bahsahwahbee National Monument.

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House Democrats say they'll vote to table a motion to remove Speaker Johnson, former President Trump faces financial penalties and the threat of jail time for violating a gag order and efforts to lower the voting age gain momentum nationwide.

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Bidding begins soon for Wyoming's elk antlers, Southeastern states gained population in the past year, small rural energy projects are losing out to bigger proposals, and a rural arts cooperative is filling the gap for schools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

In Limbo: Thousands of Nebraskans in Mandatory Two-Year Wait to Vote

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Tuesday, November 3, 2020   

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Voters in Nebraska and across the country are heading to the polls today to participate in one of the most fundamental democratic processes. But more than 20,000 voting-age Nebraskans won't be able to cast a ballot because of a felony conviction.

According to a report from The Sentencing Project, Nebraska is 1 of 11 states that restricts voting rights for people even after they've completed prison, parole and probation requirements. There's a two-year waiting period between finishing a sentence and being eligible to vote.

Shakur Abdullah spent 41 years in prison before founding the group JustUS 15 Vote, and he's now working to end that waiting period.

"I couldn't vote for two years, but that didn't stop me from having to pay taxes. That was something that I had to immediately do," Abdullah said, "So, my analogy is, if my tax money is good enough to take, my vote should be, too."

Abdullah said after securing housing and employment, voting is one of the most important ways many returning citizens can reconnect with their community.

Nationwide, 1 in 16 Black voting-age Americans is disenfranchised because of a felony conviction - a rate the report says is almost four times higher than for non-Black residents. And 34 states disenfranchise Latino residents at rates higher than the general population.

Abdullah's first vote since his release was in 2016, and he said it was a much more emotional experience than he'd expected.

"I had realized that I had just performed an act that many people that look like me once would get killed for, maybe beat, or have to pay some poll tax to engage in," he said.

In 2017, Gov. Pete Ricketts vetoed a bill that would have removed the two-year waiting period. But legislators in favor of lifting the restriction haven't given up. Abdullah and other criminal-justice reform and voting-rights advocates say they plan to keep pushing until all Nebraskans have their voting rights.



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