Can I Vote if I'm an ex-con?
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Fact Sheet: States That Bar Ex-Offenders from Voting.
DO CONVICTED FELONS LOSE THE RIGHT TO VOTE?
That depends on the state. According to a Los Angeles Times
article ("1 in 7 Black Men are Kept from Voting, Study Finds,"
30 January, 1997):
About 510,000 black males are permanently disenfranchised
because of laws in 13 states that strip convicted felons of the
right to vote. Another 950,000 are temporarily ineligible to
vote because of laws in other states--including California--that
prohibit voting by persons in prison or on
probation or on parole, according to [a 1997 Sentencing Project Study].
"While many of these individuals will regain their voting rights
after completion of their sentence, the cumulative impact of
large numbers of persons being disenfranchised from the
electoral process clearly dilutes the political power of the
African American community," said Marc Mauer, co-author of
"Intended and Unintended Consequences: State Racial Disparities
in Imprisonment."
He added that one-third of the estimated 4.2 million felons who are
disenfranchised are African American, who constitute only 12 percent
of the U.S. population.
The link address is: http://www.hrw.org/press98/oct/vote_fact1022.htm