AP highlights a rare bipartisan effort to restore felon voting rights

By Gary Fields, Ty O’Neil and Rebecca Grat

Gary Fields, of the democracy team, led a multiformat team, including Las Vegas-based video journalist Ty O’Neil and Omaha-based freelance photographer Rebecca Gratz, to highlight a rare area of bipartisan cooperation related to voting laws — the move to restore rights to former felons.

They produced a deeply reported story that kept former felons at the forefront, telling why the issue is so important to them and others who are formerly incarcerated, while also including the national context on similar efforts in other states.

It was a distinctive piece that gave AP’s audience a surprising twist on the debates over voting laws in the U.S.