This report updates and expands previous work on the scope and distribution of felon disenfranchisement in the United States
Results show that approximately 2.5 percent of the total U.S. voting age population (1 of every 40 adults) is disenfranchised due to a current or previous felony conviction. Ex-felons in the 11 States that disenfranchise people after they have completed their sentences make up about 45 percent of the entire disenfranchised population, totaling over 2.6 million people. The number of people disenfranchised due to a felony conviction has escalated dramatically in recent decades as the population under criminal justice supervision has increased. There were an estimated 1.17 million people disenfranchised in 1976, 3.34 million in 1996, and over 5.85 million in 2010. Rates of disenfranchisement vary dramatically by State due to broad variations in voting prohibitions. In six States, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia, more than 7 percent of the adult population is disenfranchised, 1 of every 13 African-Americans of voting age is disenfranchised, a rate more than 4 times greater than non African-Americans. Nearly 7.7 percent of the adult African-American population is disenfranchised compared to 1.8 percent of the non African-American population. African-American disenfranchisement rates also vary significantly by State. In three States, Florida (23 percent), Kentucky (22 percent), and Virginia (20 percent), more than one in five African-Americans is disenfranchised. Tables, figures, and references