From the Sentencing Project (http://www.sentencingproject.org):
I’m pleased to share with you a new study on felony disenfranchisement by The Sentencing Project. In 6 Million Lost Voters: State-Level Estimates of Felony Disenfranchisement, 2016, researchers Christopher Uggen, Ryan Larson, and Sarah Shannon estimate that a record 6.1 
million people — 1 of every 40 adults — are disenfranchised because of state laws that bar voting by Americans with a felony conviction, and in some states even if they have completed all requirements of their sentence. That figure has escalated dramatically in recent decades as the population under criminal justice supervision has increased. Over three-quarters of this population (4.7 million people) are not incarcerated, but are living in their local communities – some on probation or parole, while others have completed their legal obligations.
Rates of disenfranchisement vary dramatically by state due to broad variations in voting prohibitions. In six southern states – Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia – more than 7% of the adult population is disenfranchised. The state of Florida, with nearly 1.7 million disenfranchised, accounts for more than a quarter of the disenfranchised population nationally, and nearly half (1.5 million) of the disenfranchised population that has fully completed their felony sentence. Only two states, Maine and Vermont, allow citizens to vote while in jail or prison.
The report also underscores the disproportionate impact of felony disenfranchisement laws on African American communities. Nationwide, 1 in every 13 black adults cannot vote as a result of a felony conviction, and in four states—Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia—this figure is more than one in five. According to the report, African Americans are disenfranchised at a rate more than four times that of non-African Americans nationally.
We hope this resource will encourage policymakers to reconsider their state’s use of felony disenfranchisement laws.
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