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John,
The Sentencing Project today released a new report, “ Increasing Public Safety by Restoring Voting Rights [[link removed]] ,” which finds that restoring voting rights for people with felony convictions can improve community safety. The report highlights that having the right to vote or the act of voting is related to reduced recidivism for Americans who have been involved with the criminal legal system. Voting rights restoration also influences justice-impacted individuals' perception of themselves as community members and of their ability to remain crime-free.
The report features a number of studies which underscore the beneficial effects of restoring voting rights for all Americans who have been convicted of a felony. It finds that:
1.
Having
the
right
to
vote
and
the
act
of
voting
are
related
to
increased
public
safety
.
People
whose
voting
rights
were
restored
post-incarceration
had
lower
recidivism
rates
than
their
counterparts
in
states
that
continued
to
restrict
voting
rights
post-incarceration.


2.
Having
the
right
to
vote
shapes
community
re-entry
experiences
and
is
linked
to
intentions
to
remain
crime-free.
In
multiple
studies,
many
justice-impacted
individuals
reported
that
losing
their
voting
rights
made
them
feel
like
outsiders,
and
connected
their
right
to
vote
to
their
intention
and
perceived
ability
to
remain
law-abiding.


3.
Excluding
people
from
voting
based
on
their
conviction
offense
does
not
advance
public
safety.
Research
shows
that
banning
people
from
voting
ostracizes
them,
is
psychologically
harmful,
and
negatively
affects
their
perceptions
to
remain
law-abiding.
This report comes as some states are moving to protect and expand the vote for justice-impacted individuals. In 2023, Minnesota and New Mexico restored the right to vote for over 57,000 justice-impacted persons who are on felony probation or parole. In 2020, Washington, DC, became the third jurisdiction in the continental United States where individuals incarcerated for a felony conviction can vote.
Nevertheless, felony voting bans remain a major problem in America, with 4.6 million Americans unable to vote due to a felony conviction. Lawmakers should pursue all avenues to promote public safety and successful reintegration by restoring the right to vote for all justice-impacted individuals.
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Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Co-Director of Research and author of report [[link removed]] Kristen Budd
Research Analyst
Email: [email protected]
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The title for this campaign, 50 Years and a Wake Up: Ending the Mass Incarceration Crisis In America [[link removed]] , was born out of a colloquial phrase that incarcerated people sometimes use to describe the length of their sentence, plus one day (e.g. “I have 20 years and a wake up”).
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