evidence: The right to vote and the right to serve on a jury are the cornerstones of our system of self-government and represent Americans’ most significant opportunities to participate in the democratic process. However, restrictions on democratic participation—at the ballot and jury box—have diluted the voices of people of color. [...] States are required to conduct what is known as voter list maintenance—a practice that updates voter rolls to establish the most accurate list of voters as possible. One mechanism that states use to identify voters who have changed their residence is joining multi-state voter list maintenance organizations, with the Electronic Registration Information Center ("ERIC") being the largest interstate data-sharing program. Legislation to require New York to join one of these programs before August 2025 is pending before the State Legislature and would aid New York in maintaining accurate voter lists, thus appropriately allocating election resources. [...] Mandatory minimums coerce unfair plea deals and result in unduly harsh prison sentences. Further, New York’s two- and three-strike laws devastate Black, Brown, and low-income communities by requiring excessive or lifelong sentences, even when the initial offense was committed when the individual was young.