In seven states, a staggering one in four black men is permanently disenfranchised. In two states, Alabama and Florida, the ratio is one in three. Almost every state in the U.S. denies prisoners the right to vote. But fourteen states bar criminal offenders from voting even after they have finished their sentences. In these states, over one million ex-offenders are permanently disenfranchised.
Any felony can trigger disenfranchisement.
A first-time young offender who pleads guilty to a single drug sale and is placed on probation can lose the right to vote for a lifetime. These people have paid their debt to society. No other country in the world takes away the right to vote for life. This is not just a criminal justice issue, but one of basic democracy. The number of disenfranchised adults of all races is 3.9 million, three-quarters of whom are not in prison but are on probation or parole or have completed their sentences.