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Fact Sheet

New York Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 36,000 Citizens

By Kristen M. Budd, Ph.D., Emma Stammen and Whitney Threadcraft, Ph.D.

New York should follow the lead of Maine, Vermont, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC and extend voting rights to all people affected by the criminal legal system, regardless of their current incarceration status.

Related to: Voting Rights, Racial Justice, State Advocacy

New York denies the right to vote to 36,553 citizens because they are completing felony sentences in prisons and jails across the state. New York prohibits more of its citizens from voting due to a felony conviction than 30 other states. Half of disenfranchised New Yorkers are Black and 24% are Latinx. To ameliorate this racial injustice and protect its democratic values, New York lawmakers should follow the lead of Maine, Vermont, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. and extend voting rights to all citizens.

Click here to read the fact sheet.

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About the Authors

  • Kristen M. Budd, Ph.D.

    Research Analyst

    Kristen M. Budd, Ph.D., has an academic and research background in the social and legal responses to interpersonal violence with a focus on crimes of a sexual nature. She has conducted research on public perceptions of sex offenses and corresponding laws and criminal justice practice as well as patterns and predictors of sex offense behavior and victimization.

    Read more about Kristen

  • Emma Stammen

    Research Fellow

  • Whitney Threadcraft, Ph.D.

    Research Fellow

Related Resources

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Press Release

Maryland Lawmakers Fail to Pass Voter Reg. for Returning Citizens

The Maryland Senate failed to pass a bill that would have guaranteed access to voter registration and the ballot for justice-impacted residents by expanding automatic voter registration policies to include the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS).