Banned from Voting

 State laws will prevent 4.6 million Americans from voting in 2022 midterms election.

 The Sentencing Project released a new report which found that 4.6 million people, or one in every 50 adults, will be barred from voting in the 2022 midterms due to a felony conviction. 

The report, "Locked Out 2022: Estimates of People Denied Voting Rights Due to a Felony Conviction," updates and expands on research The Sentencing Project released in 2020 analyzing the scope of felony disenfranchisement, as well as the state-level distribution of laws that ban people with previous felony convictions from voting.

Three out of four of the people disenfranchised are living in their communities, having fully completed their sentences or remaining supervised while on probation or parole.

 "...this report makes it clear that millions of our citizens will remain voiceless in the upcoming midterms,” said Amy Fettig, Executive Director of The Sentencing Project. “Felony disenfranchisement is just the latest in a long line of attempts to restrict ballot access, just like poll taxes, literacy tests and property requirements were used in the past. It is time for our country to guarantee the right to vote for people with felony convictions.”

• One in 19 African Americans of voting age is disenfranchised, a rate 3.5 times greater than that of non-African Americans.
• More than one in 10 African American adults is disenfranchised in eight states – Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia.
• Although data on ethnicity in correctional populations are still unevenly reported, the report conservatively estimates that at least 506,000 Latinx Americans or - or 1.7 percent of the voting eligible population - are disenfranchised.
• Approximately 1,000,000 women are disenfranchised, comprising over one-fifth of the total disenfranchised population. 

 "...millions of Americans remain disenfranchised, representing 2% of the voting eligible population,” said Christopher Uggen, co-author of the report. “In this election year, the question of specific voting restrictions, the broader issue of voter suppression, and the disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, should be front and center on the public agenda.”

The full report is available here.