The Justus15vote Initiative was born as a result of the pressing need to eliminate barriers that seek to prevent or interfere with formerly incarcerated citizens’ rights guaranteed to them under the 15th Amendment. The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (passed by Congress February 26, 1869 and ratified February 3, 1870) granted African American men the right to vote and states: “Right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

However, because of various efforts to interfere with voting rights, it would take 100 years through the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the rights guaranteed under the 15th Amendment would become a reality.

Unfortunately, efforts to interfere with this right continues today from restrictive voter i.d legislation to restrictions that seek to disenfranchise formerly incarcerated citizens. Such efforts include blanket disenfranchisement for felony convictions, to laws that require petitioning for the return of such rights to laws that place a time limit for restoring these rights.

What the Justus15vote Initiative seeks to do is to eliminate any and all voting restrictions on men and women formerly incarcerated and to get all states to restore voting rights immediately upon discharge the same as the expectations to pay taxes and participate in the United States Census. In Nebraska, formerly incarcerated men and women must wait two years to vote. This restriction makes about as much since as the Jim Crow-Era voting qualifying questions that asked how many bubbles were in a bar of soap.

Why is Justus15vote so important to returning citizens...
• It’s just us who’s head count (Census) helps to disperse financial resources but we can’t.
• It’s just us who pay the same sales and property as other citizens we but can’t vote (taxation without representation).
• It’s just us who can’t serve on a jury or hold public office.
• It’s just us that must seek justice to restore our right to vote without delay.