Study: Felon Voting Rights Expanded in 23 states Since 1997
According to a new study by the Washington, D.C.-based Sentencing Project, 23 states have given increased voting rights to convicted felons in the past 13 years and added 800,000 former felons to voter rolls.
Nine states have either repealed or amended mandates that convicted felons be permanently disenfranchised; eight have made the process to have one’s voting rights restored easier; and three states have given those on probation and parole the right to vote, according to the report, titled “Expanding the Vote: State Felony Disenfranchisement Reform, 1997-2010.” (PDF)
Some of the state moves that have affected large numbers of onetime prisoners:
• Texas’ 1998 repeal of a two-year waiting period for to regain eligibility to vote restored rights to an estimated 317,000 people.
• A simplification of Florida’s clemency process in 2007 resulted in the restoration of voting rights for 152,000 residents.
• Then-Iowa Gov.Tom Vilsack’s executive order in 2005 restored voting rights to nearly 100,000 citizens.
Hat Tip: Election Law Blog.
