Last updated April 18, 2018

Millions of Americans are excluded from our democratic process on the basis of criminal disenfranchisement laws. These laws strip voting rights from people with past criminal convictions — and they vary widely between states. Kentucky, Florida, and Iowa impose lifetime disenfranchisement for all people with felony convictions — unless the government grants an individual pardon. And they are only 3 of the 34 states that bar community members from voting, simply on the basis of convictions in their past. Navigating this patchwork of state laws can be exceedingly difficult, especially because election officials often misunderstand their own states’ laws.

Click on any state for a summary of its current laws on criminal disenfranchisement. Click here for a .PDF version of this map.

States have a range of policies as to whether citizens with pending legal financial obligations (LFOs) relating to their convictions are eligible to vote, and also as to whether and in what circumstances misdemeanors are disenfranchising. These policies are not reflected in the below graphic.

The most recent state to change policies is New York, where on April 18, 2018, Gov. Cuomo announced that he would restore the right to vote to New Yorkers on parole through executive order. This would enfranchise approximately 35,000 New Yorkers living and working in their communities. Prior to this announcement, New Yorkers were disenfranchised until the completion of incarceration and parole.