Jhody Polk didn’t vote.
Not because she didn’t want to but because she legally could not.
Polk, a 34-year-old felons’ rights activist, is one of 1.6 million formerly incarcerated people in Florida who could not vote. Polk has advocated to restore felon voting rights with constitutional Amendment 4, which passed Tuesday.
In 2007, Polk was sentenced to eight years in prison for home invasion and theft. But for the past few weeks, Polk has been working within her hometown of Gainesville to raise awareness for Amendment 4 through phone banking and educational conversations with her community. She calls herself the self-appointed “Watchdog of Alachua County.”
“Among a lot of people of color, we’ve lost a lot of faith in voting,” she said.
Although Polk is educating the community, she said she doesn’t see her role as winning people over.
“It’s not my place to convince. I’m tired of convincing,” she said.
On Tuesday, Polk watched the election results with her two children and celebrated her daughter’s 12th birthday.
When the amendment passed she celebrated with a dance to “That’s On Me” by Yella Beezy, she said. She received several phone calls from friends and family and made a few calls herself.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” she said. “I’m excited to now be able to vote for myself.”
She said she knew it was going to pass, but it was still empowering to see the community care about people having value and representation.
For Polk, there is still work to be done within the Gainesville community.
“I will continue to do what I’ve been doing,” she said.
Contact Hannah Beatty at hbeatty@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @hannahbeatty_
Jhody Polk, who is an activist campaigning for felon right restoration.
