Site Network:Prison Policy Initiative|Prisoners of the Census

Section II: Incarceration & Its Consequences

Disenfranchisement

  • Percent of all voting age Americans disenfranchised (not allowed to vote, temporarily or permanently) by reason of a felony conviction397: 2.28%
  • Number of states that deny the vote, for life, to all ex-offenders in their state who have completed their sentences398: 8
  • Number of states that disenfranchise prisoners convicted of a felony399: 48
  • Number of states that disenfranchise felony probationers400: 29
  • Number of states that disenfranchise felons on parole401: 33
  • Percent of states in the year 1800 that disenfranchised some or all of their convicted felons402: 0%
  • Year Utah disenfranchised its prisoners403: 1998
  • Year Massachusetts disenfranchised its prisoners404: 2000
  • Percent of states in 2000 that disenfranchise some or all of their convicted felons405: 96%
  • Percent of African-American men disenfranchised by a felony conviction406: 13.1%
  • Number of states that disenfranchise more than 5% of their adult population407: 6
  • Number of states that disenfranchise more than 5% of their African-American population408: 28
  • Number of states that disenfranchise more than 10% of their African-American population409: 16

Changing elections

  • Number of U.S. Senate elections since 1978 whose outcome was changed by felon disenfranchisement410: 7
  • Year Kennedy defeated Nixon in a presidential election411: 1960
  • Kennedy's margin of victory in the popular vote over Nixon, 1960412: 118,550
  • Had modern rates of disenfranchisement applied in 1960, Nixon's margin of victory over Kennedy413: 106,261

Election 2000

  • Margin of victory, George Bush over Al Gore in Florida, 2000414: 537
  • Number of Floridians disenfranchised by reason of a felony conviction415: 827,207
  • Number of Floridians free of prison, parole or probation who are disenfranchised for life416: 613,514
  • Percent of African-American adults in Florida who are disenfranchised417: 16.02%
  • Percent of African-American adult males in Florida who are disenfranchised418: 31.2%
  • Without disenfranchisement, probable margin of victory for Al Gore over George Bush in Florida419: 80,000
  • If Florida had allowed ex-felons (but not prisoners, probationers or parolees) to vote in 2000, probable margin of victory for Al Gore over George Bush in Florida420: 40,000

This page is an excerpt from The Prison Index: Taking the Pulse of the Crime Control Industry (2003) by Peter Wagner, published by the Western Prison Project and the Prison Policy Initiative..