Voting Rights
Our latest report, “Expanding the Vote: State Felony Disenfranchisement Reform,” provides a state-by-state accounting of the changes to voting rights for people with felony convictions and measures its impact.
Since 1997, 26 states and the District of Columbia have expanded voting rights to people living with felony convictions or amended policies to guarantee ballot access. As a result, over 2 million Americans have regained the right to vote.
Key Publications
Anytime a member of a society is not afforded the right to express his or her opinions by way of the democratic process, we cannot achieve the ideals of democracy.
Testimony in Support of Restoring Voting Rights to People in Connecticut Prisons
Nicole D. Porter testifies in support of Connecticut House Bill 5702, which would guarantee voting rights to people completing their sentences regardless of their incarceration status.
The Ballot Bulletin: Voting Rights Wins in Minnesota and New Mexico
Minnesota and New Mexico adopted measures to expand the vote to persons after incarceration. Last year, over 4.6 million Americans were ineligible to vote due to laws that prevent voting for certain justice impacted residents. Learn more about the latest news in the latest edition of our voting rights newsletter.
Voting Rights
Effective democracy requires universal voting access and guaranteed voting rights for all citizens. Laws that ban people with felony convictions from voting, or policies that undermine voting by incarcerated people eligible to vote, harm our democracy and the millions of citizens who are excluded from it. These voting bans have disproportionately diluted the political power of Black and brown communities. Help us end voting restrictions for people with felony convictions by sharing these facts on social media.
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4.6 million
Americans are banned from voting due to felony convictions.
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48 states
bar people from voting in prison. Only Maine, Vermont, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico allow voting in prison.
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1 in 19
voting-age Black Americans have lost their voting rights due to a felony conviction—3.5 times the rate among non-Black Americans.
Join the movement to expand voting rights for all
Help us apply political and legal pressure to ensure that a person’s criminal legal system involvement does not influence their voting eligibility or lead to other permanent exclusions and limitations from civic life.
