“Florida has gone from the leader in disenfranchisement to the leader in enfranchisement overnight. People - not politicians - did it! Democracy won!” He noted that passage of Amendment Four represented "the greatest voting expansion" since 1971 when the 26th Amendment reduced the voting age from 21 to 18.
Anxious to impress at a young age, Angel Sanchez became involved in gang activity in Miami aged 12. Arrested several times he spent time in juvenile detention before being sent to prison aged 16, sentenced as an adult to 30 years for attempted homicide and armed assault. He got his high school GED in prison, began studying law and qualifying as a para-legal. In the process he successfully got his sentence reduced in half after he discovered legal errors in the case against him. He was released after serving 13 years and enrolled in community college. He has graduated in political science from the University of Central Florida. Now 36, he is a top law student at the University of Miami and was invited to speak at Harvard University last month. Read more about Angel's story.
"I was at the (Amendment Four) election celebration watch party. It was intense watching the numbers come in. It's a great thing to be part of. It was very reassuring that people understood the importance of our voting rights, regardless of your party. This was a human issue. Most people have experienced knowing someone in our situation, directly or indirectly. The success of Amendment Four shows that ultimately the state of our country is not as bad as some people say. I look forward to registering after it is made official January 8. At the same time my mind has been in other places. My youngest daughter, Lilly, starts stem cell treatment on Sunday for cancer. She lost one of her kidneys. She'll be in hospital for a month. She's a trooper. You should see her running around the playground like she's hardly aware of it."
The son of a hard-working parents, a Mexican mother and a Colombian father, Bryan Russi was born in Texas and grew up in New York, Chicago and Orlando. He got involved in the fast life at a young age and was a millionaire drug dealer by 20. But by 24 he was convicted and sentenced to 13 years for trafficking. He says jail time was necessary “to change the mindset I had.” In prison he began reading and studying, including criminology and western philosophy. Now 42, he is a successful real estate agent, ranked in the top 250 in central Florida. He also visits high schools to talk about life decisions. His 14-year-old daughter who was born after he went to prison. He remarried after his release and has a four-year-old daughter who is battling a rare form of cancer, as well as a 16-month-old boy. He has never voted. Read more about Bryan's story.
"The knots are untying in my stomach and the grip on my heart is relaxing. But most of all I am feeling very positive, not just because we won on Amendment 4, but because humanity is becoming more compassionate. It showed we are able to put ourselves in the shoes of others and understand what has happened and that we all have the right to a second chance. It doesn’t matter if you are black or white or that you committed an error. I feel like I can fly. It's a very nice moment, thank you very much everyone who voted for us."
Convicted in 1997 on a drug conspiracy charge, Yraida Guanipa, 56, was sentenced to almost 13 years in prison. While in prison she was only able to see her two small children on a handful of occasions. That remains her biggest regret, apart from losing her voting rights. She says she suffered from depression early on, but she never gave up hope. A Venezuelan-American, she fought for years to have her charges overturned or reduced, in the process acquiring the legal skills she now uses to assist others as a paralegal. She was released in 2008 and today assists other jailed mothers with young children and donates to halfway houses where newly released prisoners transition back into society. The last time she voted was in 1992. Read more about Yraida's story.
“This victory means the world to me, the opportunity to make a difference and vote is priceless. I am grateful to every person that voted yes on Amendment 4.”
The son of Cuban parents, Ignacio Calderin was raised in Miami and won a football scholarship to an Ohio college. After he was sidelined by an injury he dropped out of college and got involved in street crime. He went to prison aged 20, sentenced to 22 years for armed robbery, leaving behind a wife and small child. He was released in 2002 and struggled at first to turn his life around. Now aged 48, he was until recently a supervisor at Transition, a Miami non-profit that provides job training and placement services to ex-offenders. “I tell them ‘believe in yourself.’ That’s what I know I learned.” He was recently laid off after Transition learned its dependence on public funding did not permit it to hire ex-offenders. Despite the setback, he is undeterred, and confident he'll find other employment. "I have come too far to go back," he said. He is happily remarried and is the proud father of two small boys aged five and three weeks. He has never voted. Read more about Ignacio's story.
“We won!! The voice in the desert has been heard!” We will be ready in 2020 to take Trump out. Him and his followers.”
Born in New York and raised in Tampa, Caridad Galan went to prison in 1991 sentenced to 18 years on a conspiracy charge related to her husband’s drug trafficking. After she was released early for good behavior in 2000, she struggled to find a job because of her felony conviction. She eventually found work as a bilingual interpreter, working online from home. Her clients include prosecutors and the FBI. Now 53, she is remarried and lives in Pensacola with her husband and their 16-year-old son, as well as an adopted two-year-old who is the light of her life. She last voted in 1992. Read more about Caridad's story.
“Having lost my ability to vote before I was even eligible to vote, I am ecstatic that Amendment 4 passed. For me, this means full citizenship and the ability to vote for people and policies that will affect my children 20, 30, and maybe even 40 years from now. I cannot just go out and vote, I must be an educated voter. However, while we celebrate this victory we must not lose focus. It is not enough that we passed Amendment 4, it is not enough if we register all 1.4 million new voters, our goal should be to educate and mobilize 1.4 new voters to GO VOTE!” Ayala notes that one thing he is looking forward to is voting for his wife, Aramis Ayala, who was elected last year as the first African American State Attorney in Florida."
A native of Brooklyn, NY, he was raised by his Spanish-speaking mother as both Puerto Rican and African American. After leaving prison he obtained a business administration degree from community college, followed by Bachelor of Arts at the University of Central Florida where he focused on non-profit management and business administration. How, 44, he is a human and civil rights advocate with LatinoJustice PRLDEF in Orlando. He credits the turnaround in his life to the support of his wife, lawyer Aramis Ayala and his religious faith. They have two daughters. His wife was elected last year as the first African-American state attorney in the history of Florida. He was not able to vote for her. “I have finished my probation, I have paid of all my fines, and there is no reason why I shouldn't be eligible to vote,” he says. Read more about David's story.