Incarcerated felons don’t have the right to vote in Massachusetts — but they still have the right to try to change that.

Advocates attempting to restore those voting rights kicked off a statewide petition drive on Sept. 5 by collecting signatures inside Suffolk County jails. An organization called Healing Our Land, which supports incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, convened political leaders, advocates and several dozen inmates inside the Suffolk County House of Correction.

They brought with them the petitions that were approved by the state’s attorney general last week in support of a ballot initiative to restore voting rights, and several inmates signed.

DeAnza Cook, a professor at Ohio State University and a board member of Healing Our Land, told GBH News that it sends an

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