New Sentencing Project Report -- A Decade of Reform: Felony Disenfranchisement Policy in the U.S.

The Sentencing Project has released a new report revealing a new wave of reforms of state felony voting laws and growing momentum toward restoring voting rights.

Findings published in A Decade of Reform: Felony Disenfranchisement Policy in the United States disclose that since 1997, 16 states have implemented policy reforms that have reduced the restrictiveness of these laws, and more than 600,000 people in seven states have regained their voting rights.

The report also states:

• U.S. disenfranchisement laws remain among the world’s most severe despite public opinion polls showing 80% support for restoring the vote to those who have completed their sentences.

• During this year alone, 73 bills on felony disenfranchisement were introduced in 22 states and 85% of these initiatives sought to expand voting rights.

• More than 5 million Americans still will be banned from voting this Election Day; three quarters of those banned — 3.9 million — are living in the community.

• An estimated 1 in 12 African Americans is disenfranchised, a rate nearly five times the rate of non-African Americans.

Click here for the full report which also includes a breakdown of state-based policy reform and additional publications and resources on felony disenfranchisement.

The Sentencing Project

Zerline Hughes Jennings

zjennings@sentencingproject.org