Edited sentence: , disenfranchise people for only as long as they are in prison (however, this has been challenged by the European Court of Human Rights).Disenfranchisement of felons is opposed by some as a form of the medieval practice of civil death.In 2004, 5.3 million Americans were denied the right to vote because of previous convictions.In Florida during the 2000 presidential election, some non-felons were banned due to record-keeping errors and not warned of their disqualification until the deadline for contesting it had passed.Many countries including Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Norway, Peru, Sweden, and Zimbabwe allow prisoners to vote (unless convicted of crimes against the electoral system).Some countries, notably the U.Some states require felons to complete a process to restore voting rights, but offender advocates say such processes can be very difficult.The United States is the only democracy in the world that regularly bans large numbers of felons from voting after they have discharged their sentences.Thirteen states permanently disenfranchise convicted felons; eighteen states restore voting rights after completion of prison, parole, and probation; four states re-enfranchise felons after they have been released from prison and have completed parole; thirteen states allow felons who have been released from prison to vote, and two states do not disenfranchise felons at all.This form of vote suppression in the United States disproportionately affects minorities including African-Americans and Latinos