When Lance Wissinger decided to drive himself and his friend home from a bar after a day spent at a baseball game in 2003, he didn't know that the decision would alter the rest of his life.

Wissinger, then 24, got behind the wheel when, he admits, he probably shouldn't have. When he crashed the car, his best friend, Matt Montgomery, was killed.

He's spent the last 15 years learning from his mistake and working on improving himself and his community, he said.

But because of his felony conviction, he's barred from giving back to his community in perhaps the most important way: by voting.

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Across the country, more than 6 million people have lost the right to vote because of their criminal records. More than 1.5 million of them live in Florida, which is a higher number than any other state, according to data from a voting advocacy group called the Sentencing Project.

Those who can vote in Florida can choose in November whether to allow a proposal that would restore voting rights to former felons who've served their sentences, with the exception of those convicted of murder and sexual offenses.

It's called Amendment 4. And according to some officials, it can help everyone, not just those who've lost their voting rights.

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Studies by the Office of Offender Review show that people who re-earn the eligibility to vote are less likely to commit crimes again. And according to the Florida Parole Commission, returning citizens whose civil rights are restored are three times less likely to re-offend than those who don't.

Because of these statistics, the amendment promotes safer communities, according to Second Chances FL, a grassroots campaign that helped get the amendment on the ballot.

Wissinger fits these descriptions pretty well.

He didn't fight the DUI manslaughter charge. He was given a plea deal and accepted his 10-year sentence. He served 4½ years in prison and five years of probation and has spent 15 years since bettering himself and giving back to the community.

"While I was in, I decided that this was the time to make a difference in my life," he said. "I made sure I put myself in the position to really get as much out of it as I could."

Wissinger says he read 496 books while he was incarcerated. He helped start several programs that helped inmates learn skills that would benefit them during incarceration and after, such as how to interview for a job. And he competed in a prestigious tournament in Miami known as America's Chef Competition as part of a culinary work release program, becoming one of the first inmates to do so. He won the silver medal while incarcerated, he said.

While he was in prison, he started to see some of the issues with the prison system, he said. Now he has a goal to one day run for local office.

Since his Feb. 11, 2011, release, he's focused on becoming engaged in his community, involving himself with local city council meetings in Lee County. He's also the vice president of business development for LightMark Aerial, a local aerial service provider.

He's tried to get his clemency to restore his right to vote, but Florida's law makes it difficult because it requires the personal involvement of the governor and the three-person Cabinet.

"I came home and have been trying to make a difference, using my experiences and the unfortunate mistake I made 15 years ago as a platform to show there are ways to be corrected, learn your lesson and give back to the community," he said.

He made a promise to himself after the accident that he would learn from his mistake and live his life to the fullest potential, he said.

"My friend lost his life, so I'm living for both of us now," he said. "I always promised that I would do everything I could do, and having the right to vote gives me my voice back. The right to vote is just the first step for me to move forward, but it's a huge step for everyone else to move forward, too."

Restoring voting rights 'can help public safety'

Neil Volz is another former felon, or "returning citizen," as he and others prefer to call themselves. Since his sentence ended in 2011, he's gone on to become political director for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, an organization founded for returning citizens.

Volz, a Fort Myers resident, was instrumental in the grassroots campaign to collect the signatures required to place Amendment 4 on the ballot to amend the Florida Constitution. His transformation started more than 12 years ago when he said he had some professional success in Washington, D.C.

"It went to my head, I got really arrogant and greedy and selfish," he said. "I ended up making some stupid decisions, got charged with a conspiracy charge, and at the end of the day, I blew up my life, and I hurt a lot of people around me. I let a lot of folks down, and I eventually began to change my life."

He started volunteering at a homeless shelter, he said. He loved the second-chance culture there of people committed to transforming themselves and having a purpose bigger than themselves, he said.

He got an offer to be a case manager. Before he knew it, he was running the program, he said. Ten years later, he was the chairman of the Lee County Homeless Coalition.

He also worked as an outreach director at a local church and engaged with the local community, including hospitals, law enforcement, and schools. That's how he eventually got involved with the voter re-enfranchisement movement.

It took interacting with the criminal justice system to learn about how things worked and how they were connected, he said. Volz, 47, is confident about Amendment 4 because he sees support for it across the board, he said.

"Voter disenfranchisement affects different people from all walks of life," he said. "All the studies come to the same conclusion: that the quicker someone is able to reintegrate, the more likely they are to succeed."

Like any amendment to the constitution, it needs 60 percent to pass.

Voters might be thinking, "Well, how does this affect me?" he said. The answer is that restoring voting rights to former felons can lead to breaking the cycle of crime, he said.

Those who've had their voting rights restored are less likely to become homeless and less likely to re-offend, which leads to fewer crime victims and fewer tax dollars for correctional programs, he said.

"This can help public safety," he said. "This is an everybody issue."

Connect with this reporter: bbaitinger@news-press.com, 239-335-0213 or Twitter: @BaitingerBrooke.