FORT MYERS, Fla. — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Sunday directing federal agencies to develop a plan to increase voter registration and participation across the United States.
The announcement came on the 56th anniversary of 'Bloody Sunday' when 600 peaceful protestors were brutally attacked by police as they marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama for the right to vote.
Now, half a century later, activist Neil Volz with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, is fighting to restore voter rights in Florida. He celebrates the new executive order as a win.
"The more people who vote, the more vibrant our democracy is and the stronger our communities are," says Volz.
Before the 2020 elections, the FRRC helped 600 former felons in southwest Florida re-gain their right to vote by paying off fines and fees owed to the state.
Volz says restoring a voter’s rights is not about party lines. The goal is to fulfill the promises laid out in our constitution that every citizen’s voice should be heard.
"This is bigger than right or left, this is bigger than republican or democrat. This is about democracy! This is about humanity! This is about the opportunity for us as people to be citizens in our community and have a say in where we go here in southwest Florida," says Volz.
