Restore Voting Rights

Sentencing Project

An Inquirer editorial decries the fact that that 225 years after the Constitution was written, millions of Americans are denied the fundamental right to vote, even though more than four million “"live, work, and pay taxes in their communities."

For these people- including the one million African Americans who represent a disproportionate share – having a felony conviction means that their voting rights have been revoked.

There has been a five-fold increase in the overall numbers-- to 5.85 million over the last few decades, according to a report, State-Level Estimates of Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States, 2010, by the Sentencing Project.

The editorial concludes: “Beyond barring felons from voting as a punitive measure, there's no civic rationale for denying them their political voice. On the contrary, the nation's disenfranchisement laws should be eased as a way to encourage more ex-offenders to be good citizens and get their lives fully back on track.”