Inmates vote via absentee ballot. Those in favor of the policy argue that Massachusetts should get in step with the majority. But the ACLU said such action would be alien to a state that has always been the model for expansive rights. Disenfranchising people while they are in prison works against this interest by discouraging them from participating positively in the life of the community. Currently, 3.9 million Americans are disqualified from voting because of an inconsistent patchwork of state laws that disenfranchise citizens who have been convicted of a felony.
Experts believe that in seven states one in four black men has permanently lost the right to vote.
No other democratic nation indefinitely disenfranchises as many people because of felony convictions. The ACLU supports federal legislation that would guarantee that citizens who have paid their debt to society and are no longer incarcerated regain the right to vote in federal elections, even if they are barred from voting in state elections.