New Report: Over 760,000 Women Are Barred From Voting Due to Having A Felony Conviction
A new report released by The Sentencing Project today, finds that over three-quarters of a million women are barred from voting because of a felony-level conviction, limiting women's political participation and weakening the collective political power of women across the United States.
Related to: Voting Rights
[Washington, DC]– A new report released by The Sentencing Project today, finds that over three-quarters of a million women are barred from voting because of a felony-level conviction, limiting women’s political participation and weakening the collective political power of women across the United States. Women Silenced at the Polls: How Criminal Convictions Deny the Right to Vote examines how the rapid growth of women’s involvement in the criminal legal system has expanded the reach of felony disenfranchisement laws and left hundreds of thousands of women excluded from the democratic process. The findings illustrate how voting restrictions tied to criminal convictions impact women, particularly women of color, and deepen existing racial, gender, and economic inequalities.
In addition to the national data analysis, the report also highlights the experiences of six justice-impacted women and the various barriers to the ballot many have faced when attempting to vote, even when they are or have become eligible.
Key highlights include:
- Over 760,000 women could not vote because of a felony-level conviction, according to a conservative estimate from The Sentencing Project’s 2024 Locked Out report.
- Nearly 90% of women who cannot vote are living in their communities, with the majority having completed their entire sentence.
- In 2024, more than 432,000 women living in 10 states were stripped of their right to vote after they had completed their sentence for a felony-level conviction.
- Over the last four decades, the number of women under correctional supervision in the United States has increased by over 160% – from roughly 388,000 women in 1985 to over 1 million women in 2023.
- Over half of women in prisons are mothers, with evidence suggesting the proportion is even higher among women held in jails.
“For generations, women have been fighting to secure a voice in our democracy. Felony voting bans limit women’s political power, especially women of color who are already over criminalized by our legal system,” said Kristen Budd, Senior Research Analyst at The Sentencing Project and the report’s author. “Even in states where justice-impacted women retain their full voting rights, many encounter barriers that make voting extremely difficult – from confusion about eligibility to a lack of voting access in correctional facilities. Felony voting bans severely limit too many women’s ability to have a voice in the laws that shape their lives, families, and communities.”
The policy brief concludes that protecting the voting rights of women with criminal convictions is essential to affirming that all women have an equal voice in our democracy. The Sentencing Project urges federal and state lawmakers to end felony voting bans and guarantee ballot access for every eligible citizen, regardless of their involvement in the criminal legal system. The full report is available here.
