State Voting Rights Briefs
In 2022, over 4.4 million Americans were banned from voting due to a felony conviction. The Sentencing Project is committed to expanding voting rights in every state and works with state partners to provide specific data on state felony disenfranchisement.
Click the links below to read our state voting rights briefs. If you are interested in working with The Sentencing Project to expand voting rights in your state, please contact Nicole D. Porter (nporter@sentencingproject.org).
California
California Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 97,000 Citizens
More than 97,000 California citizens cannot vote while serving a prison term for a felony conviction in any state, federal, or local facility – a result of California’s constitution. California should strengthen its democracy and advance racial justice by re-enfranchising its entire voting-eligible population.
Connecticut
Connecticut Bars Over 6,000 Citizens from Voting
Almost half of Connecticans disenfranchised due to felony convictions are Black, and 28% are Latinx. To ameliorate this racial injustice and protect its democratic values, Connecticut should restore voting rights to people in prison.
Colorado
Colorado Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 17,000 Citizens
More than 17,000 Coloradans are banned from voting while serving a prison term for a felony conviction. Colorado should strengthen its democracy and advance racial justice by re-enfranchising its entire voting eligible population.
Florida
Florida Bans Voting Rights of Over One Million Citizens
Florida surpasses every state in the nation with the largest number of U.S. citizens disenfranchised due to a felony conviction.
Georgia
Georgia Should Restore Voting Rights to 234,000 Citizens
Driving Georgia’s high disenfranchisement rate is its community supervision population, which is the largest in the country.
Kentucky
Kentucky Bars Over 152,000 Citizens from Voting
Despite a gubernatorial executive order in 2019 designed to ease the burden of Kentucky’s lifetime disenfranchisement law for people with felony convictions, the commonwealth still denies the right to vote to more people with a felony conviction than 39 other states.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 7,700 Citizens
In 2000, Massachusetts passed a Constitutional amendment stripping incarcerated people with felony convictions of their right to vote while incarcerated.
Minnesota
Minnesota Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 55,000 Citizens
Minnesota denies the vote to more of its people with a felony conviction than most other states in the Upper Midwest.
Nebraska
Nebraska Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 10,000 Citizens
Over 10,000 of Nebraska’s citizens are banned from voting because they are incarcerated for a felony, on felony probation, or released on parole.
New Mexico
New Mexico Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 17,000 Citizens
An estimated 64% of New Mexico’s disenfranchised adults live in the community.
New York
New York Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 36,000 Citizens
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.
Oregon
Oregon Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 13,000 Citizens
Often viewed as a politically progressive state, Oregon’s disenfranchisement of incarcerated people disproportionately harms Black citizens.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 40,000 Citizens
Pennsylvania restricts access to the ballot box at the second highest rate in the region.
Tennessee
Tennessee Denies Voting Rights to Over 470,000 Citizens
Tennessee has the country’s highest rate of disenfranchisement for both Black and Latinx Americans.
Texas
Texas Should Restore Voting Rights to Over 450,000 Citizens
The number of Texans denied voting rights due to a felony conviction is larger than the disenfranchised populations of 47 states.
