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New York, NY. — Today a New York City-wide coalition of celebrities, community-based organizations, civil rights groups and criminal justice activists held a press conference to publicly launch its campaign, Release the Vote: Unlock the Block. Forty-two organizations have endorsed the initiative (listing attached).

Unlock the Block is mounting a major public information campaign to educate, mobilize and register thousands of people formerly incarcerated for a felony conviction, their families and their communities. See www.unlocktheblock.org.

New York, NY — Demos has published two new reports which provide compelling research, analysis, and timely information on felony disenfranchisement laws, and their impact on American democracy.

New York, NY — Propositions to enact Election Day Registration (EDR) in California and Colorado were defeated yesterday, preventing citizens from gaining the ability to register and vote on Election Day. The promise of EDR is that every citizen, including significant portions of the population that have traditionally been marginalized, have the opportunity to participate in the democratic process.

The version of reform now apparently on its way to a presidential signature is actually a step backward.