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The Minnesota Department of Corrections is reminding transitional housing providers that people with a felony record are allowed to vote unless they are in prison or jail.

The department issued the guidance after 35-year-old Calvin Boswell told MPR News that his supervisor at the Minneapolis work release program, Life Rebuilders, told a group of about 20 residents Monday that they wouldn’t be allowed to vote.

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Boswell has been in a work release program since he was released from prison in March and had planned to vote on Election Day.

“This is 2024. A law was passed, and you’re still telling me that I can’t exercise my right,” he said. “How can you just impede somebody’s right? I was a little confused.”

Corrections Department spokesperson Shannon Loehrke said the staff member at Life Rebuilders “provided incorrect information which we have corrected.” She added that they reminded providers on Tuesday afternoon “that work releasees who would like to vote should be allowed to.”

Officials with Life Rebuilders did not return messages after the guidance was issued.

In 2023, state law was changed to allow people with a felony record to vote if they are not in prison or jail. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon estimated about 57,000 formerly incarcerated Minnesotans are eligible to vote in their first presidential election this year.

Speaking to MPR News Tuesday evening, Simon said it was the first he'd heard of the report. "That's concerning, because the new rule we have since last year is pretty clear. It's a bright line. If you're in prison, you can't vote. If you're out — including in a halfway house — you can."

He said his office worked with other agencies and nonprofits to get the word out to those newly eligible to vote. He added that he’ll look at the numbers and determine "whether or not the collective effort made a dent in making sure that those newly enfranchised folks could vote."

Antonio Williams lobbied to change the state’s felon voting law. Williams, who leads the nonprofit T.O.N.E. U.P., said he’s outraged by the mishap.

“This is a clear example of why there needs to be more oversight … within state-run facilities for incarceration and post incarceration,” Williams said. “This should have never happened.”

After hearing about the incident at Life Rebuilders, Williams said his team called halfway houses to make sure people were not being misinformed about voting. He and Loerke both say they haven’t heard of any issues at work release programs.

Boswell said officials at Life Rebuilders told the residents on Tuesday afternoon that they were allowed to leave the facility to vote. He said he immediately walked a block to his polling place and voted for the first time.

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Nicole Ki

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The Minnesota Department of Corrections is reminding transitional housing providers that people with a felony record are allowed to vote unless they are in prison or jail under a law that went into effect in June 2023. 

‘Should have never happened’: Group in halfway house wrongly told they can’t vote

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