Publications
Voting After Criminal Conviction
Smart on Crime
Transition Document: A coalition of more than 20 organizations, including the Brennan Center for Justice, and individuals created this publication of a catalogue of key criminal justice issues and policy recommendations for the next administration and congress.
Authored by: Criminal Justice Transition Coalition
– 11/06/08
De Facto Disenfranchisement
This report by the ACLU and the Brennan Center for Justice reveals widespread misunderstanding among state election officials of laws governing the right to vote of citizens with felony convictions. They receive little or no training on these laws, and there is little or no coordination between election offices and the criminal justice system. These factors, coupled with complex laws and complicated registration procedures, result in the mass dissemination of inaccurate and misleading information, which in turn leads to the de facto disenfranchisement of untold hundreds of thousands of eligible would-be voters.
Authored by: Erika Wood and Rachel Bloom
– 10/01/08
Restoring the Right to Vote
Despite a history of expanding the franchise, there remains one significant blanket barrier to the franchise. 5.3 million American citizens are not allowed to vote because of a felony conviction. As many as 4 million of these people live in our communities, but are still denied the right to vote because of a prior conviction.
Authored by: Erika Wood
– 02/26/08
An Agenda for Election Reform
This memorandum sets out a comprehensive election reform agenda for the 110th Congress and explains the reasons for each policy reform.
Authored by: Wendy R. Weiser and Jonah Goldman
– 03/07/07
Brennan Center and Demos Report on State Board of Elections Illegal Disenfranchisement of NY Voters
A recent survey of county election officials found that more than one-third of New Yorks 63 local election boards, including those in three New York City boroughs, continue to unlawfully disfranchise eligible voters with felony convictions. Despite previous advocacy efforts, election officials persist in misapplying the law, resulting in the illegal disfranchisement of potentially thousands of eligible voters.
– 03/15/06
Executive Summary of Brennan Center & Demos Report on the NY Board of Elections
A survey of 63 local election boards found that more than one-third of local boards, including four in New York City, are disenfranchising former prisoners and probationers who are eligible to register and vote under state law. These results repeat the widespread errors exposed in a 2003 Brennan Center and Legal Action Center survey.
– 03/15/06
Response to the Report of the 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform
Response by the Brennan Center and Spencer Overton to the 2005 Carter-Baker commission on federal election reform
Authored by: Wendy R. Weiser, Justin Levitt, Catherine Weiss & Spencer Overton
– 07/19/05
Key Decisions in Felony Disenfranchisement Litigation
List and description of key federal and state cases. Cases range from Supreme Court decisions like Richardson v. Ramirez to state court cases like Fernandez v. Kiner. Thirty-three decision in all are listed and summarized.
Right to Vote Reasearch Toolkit: How to Survey Voting Registration Procedures for People with Felony
As part of our work in the Right to Vote coalition, the Brennan Center has produced the Right to Vote Research Toolkit for surveying local election board procedures with respect to registration of eligible voters with felony convictions.