'Baffled' and 'scared,' U.S. felons face hurdles after regaining right to vote

FILE PHOTO: A sign on the ground directs people who line up in the rain to vote at an early site at Madison Square Gardens in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., October 26, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

(Reuters) - Nine years after completing a prison sentence for a gang-related shooting, Angel Sanchez cast his first ballot in a U.S. presidential election on Saturday, one of a growing number of Americans with felony convictions who regained the right to vote.

But the Miami resident had to overcome a dizzying array of administrative hurdles and he briefly feared he had unknowingly committed a felony by registering to vote without fully paying off court costs associated with his sentence.