Texas Should Restore Voting Rights to Nearly Half a Million Citizens
Texas exceeds the voting restrictions imposed by 25 other states and Washington, DC.
Related to: Voting Rights, State Advocacy, Racial Justice
Roughly 479,000 Texans cannot vote due to a felony conviction – the second largest disenfranchised population in the country, behind only Florida.1 The state’s laws are particularly restrictive—prohibiting individuals from voting who are incarcerated for a felony, on felony probation, or on parole. Texas exceeds the voting restrictions imposed by 25 other states and Washington, DC.2 People of color in particular are more likely to be prohibited from voting because of the stark racial disparities in the Texas criminal legal system.
| 1. | Uggen, C., Larson, R., Shannon, S., & Stewart, R., & Hauf, M. (2024). Locked out 2024: Four million denied voting rights due to a felony conviction. The Sentencing Project. |
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| 2. | Uggen, C., Larson, R., Shannon, S., & Stewart, R., & Hauf, M. (2024). Locked out 2024: Four million denied voting rights due to a felony conviction. The Sentencing Project. |
