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July 12, 2021

62-Year-Old Hervis Earl Rogers Faces 40 Years in Prison for "Illegal Voting" in Texas
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In Texas, an African American man who waited over six hours to cast a
vote in March of 2020 faces up to 40 years in prison for "illegal
voting." Sixty-two-year-old Hervis Earl Rogers was arrested on Wednesday
and charged with violating a Texas law barring people with felony
convictions from casting ballots. He remained in jail for three days
until the nonprofit group The Bail Project paid his $100,000 bail.
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton ordered Rogers's arrest just
before the start of a special legislative session in Texas in which
Republicans are pressing new voter suppression laws - and trying to make
it more difficult for people arrested to post cash bail. On Tuesday,
President Biden is set to deliver a major voting rights speech in
Philadelphia.


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