Our friends at MobLogic were at the Personal Democracy Forum with us last week in New York. Lindsay Campbell asked attendees what they wanted to declare independence from — myself included. After the conference I spent a morning over at the MobLogic HQ to talk more about the state of America’s voting system. Stay tuned for that.

Last week we brought you the news that over 100,000 ex-felons in Florida are getting their voting rights back.

Today the New York Times says those reforms are “well short of what’s needed — a complete overhaul of a wildly illogical system.” The interconnections of voting rights and access to jobs is part of the problem, so says the Times.

In most states, inmates win back their voting rights as soon as they are released from prison or when they complete parole or probation. One big reason that does not happen in Florida is that state law requires felons to first make restitution to their victims. And until their voting rights are restored, former prisoners are barred from scores of state-regulated occupations for which the restoration of voting rights is listed as a condition of employment.

Quite apart from the fact that it is undemocratic to bar people from the voting booth because they owe money, the system is transparently counterproductive since it prevents people from landing the jobs they will need to make restitution. Denying ex-offenders a chance to make an honest living is a sure way to drive them back to jail.

The system also requires extensive and unnecessary background checks before voting rights can be restored for some applicants, making it hard to reduce the backlog. Florida could clear up that backlog in a hurry, treat all ex-offenders fairly and enhance democracy by automatically restoring voting rights to inmates who have completed their sentences.

When we visited both the Iowa and Nevada caucuses earlier this year to document the “Un-Caucuses” — who isn’t able to participate in the caucus process and why that is — we met in both states ex-felons who are excluded from the voter rolls. We’ll continue to monitor how this issue is addressed around the country.

I’m in the Allen Room panel discussion called Mastering the New World of Online Political Video. Steve Grove of YouTube and the Why Tuesday? advisory board is moderating. NewsBusters, Brave New Films and TPM TV are the panelists. I’m speaking in the Idea Market during the next session. My bit is called Using Online Video for Grassroots Organizing.

Barnett Zitron, Why Tuesday? Managing Director, and I at Personal Democracy Forum 2008, the conference about how technology is changing politics. Follow along via Why Tuesday? on Twitter.

I’ll be at Personal Democracy Forum 2008 in New York next week, both for Why Tuesday? as a participant in the Idea Market, and in my role as vlogger for NPR Sunday Soapbox. I’ll be there alongside Weekend Edition Sunday Senior Supervisory Producer Davar Ardalan to bring you the best of the conference, including, perhaps, some interviews with web, political and other bigshots.

Here’s the info straight from the PDF folks:

Technology and the Internet are changing politics — now more than ever. Over the last five years, Personal Democracy Forum (PdF) has become the seminal gathering place for the growing community of people who understand the effects underway, and want to make sure they stay on top of what’s coming next.

This year PdF will be bigger and better than before–we’re expanding to two full days at a spectacular new venue overlooking Central Park, at Frederick P. Rose Hall, the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Photo of Personal Democracy Forum 2007 via Ed Falk on Flickr.

That’s the quote that ends today’s New York Times article about 115,000 ex-felons in Florida getting their voting rights back.

If you listen to NPR’s coverage, you’ll learn that in all but three states felons get their voting rights back after their sentences are completed. You’ll also find out how the new rules of re-enfranchisement work in Florida.

NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert’s death has touched us deeply. Some members of our team were lucky to meet Russert in person this January in Iowa, a day before the historic Iowa caucuses.

Thomas Macker, Thomas Rossmeissl, Barnett Zitron and I were at the Polk County Convention Center in Des Monies where most news organizations were filing and broadcasting from in advance of the first presidential contest in the United States.

In the late afternoon, as we stood in the hallway of the giant complex, Russert walked by with a small NBC entourage.

“Mr. Russert!” I called out.

“Gotta do Nightly News,” he said, as he picked up his pace and headed into the main hall from where Brian Williams was broadcasting that night. He then turned and shouted: “But maybe on the way back!”

Sure enough, Russert came back talked with us after he finished Nightly News. He shared insights on everything from his feelings about the state of the voting system to his famous line, “Florida! Florida! Florida!”

This Father’s Day, team Why Tuesday? honors a man whose gregariousness and graciousness we experienced firsthand. He is someone we will always to look up to, someone whose standards we will aim to meet, and whose style we will aim to emulate.