Voting Rights & Restoration

The legal prohibition on voting imposed on individuals who have been convicted of a felony offense. The United States disenfranchises more people due to felony convictions than virtually any other democracy in the world. Rules vary dramatically by state: some restore voting rights automatically upon release from prison, others require completion of parole or probation, others require a formal application or petition process, and Maine and Vermont impose no voting restrictions based on felony convictions at all, allowing people to vote even while incarcerated. An estimated five million Americans are currently unable to vote due to a felony conviction.

The process by which a person who has been disenfranchised due to a felony conviction regains the legal right to vote. How rights are restored, and how difficult the process is, varies enormously by state. In some states, rights are restored automatically at a specific point in a person's sentence, such as upon release from prison or completion of parole. In others, individuals must apply to a government board or the governor, a process that can take years and has no guarantee of success. Confusion about eligibility is itself a significant barrier, as many people who are legally eligible to vote after a conviction do not know their rights have been restored.

Another term for the restoration of voting rights to someone who has been disenfranchised. Re-enfranchisement can occur through automatic restoration policies, individual applications, legislative changes, constitutional amendments, or court decisions. Advocates for re-enfranchisement argue that restoring voting rights is an important step in the reintegration of formerly incarcerated people into civic life and that disenfranchisement beyond the period of incarceration serves no legitimate penological purpose.

The power of an executive official, typically the president at the federal level or a governor at the state level, to grant relief from criminal penalties, including restoration of civil rights such as the right to vote. Clemency can take several forms, including pardons, commutations, reprieves, and amnesties. In states where voting rights are not automatically restored after a felony conviction, clemency from the governor may be the primary pathway through which an individual can regain the right to vote.

A form of executive clemency that forgives a criminal conviction and, depending on the state, may restore some or all civil rights lost as a result of the conviction, including the right to vote. A full pardon generally wipes out the legal consequences of a conviction, though it does not erase the conviction from a person's record. The effect of a pardon on voting rights varies by state, and in some states a pardon does not automatically restore voting rights without a separate application process.

The voting rights of individuals who have been released from prison but are still serving a portion of their sentence under community supervision. Whether people on parole can vote varies by state. Some states restore voting rights upon release from incarceration, meaning parolees can vote. Others do not restore rights until parole is completed. And in a small number of states, rights are not restored until all aspects of a sentence, including any period of supervised release, are fully completed.

The voting rights of individuals who have been sentenced to probation, a form of community supervision, rather than incarceration, or who are serving a period of probation following release from prison. As with parole, whether people on probation can vote varies significantly by state. In some states, a probation sentence does not result in any loss of voting rights. In others, people on probation are disenfranchised for the duration of their probationary period.

The broader process by which individuals who have served time in prison regain civil rights that were lost as a result of a felony conviction, which may include the right to vote, the right to serve on a jury, the right to hold public office, and the right to possess firearms. The timing and process for restoring these rights vary by state and by the specific right in question. Voting rights and other civil rights are not always restored at the same time or through the same process.

A policy under which voting rights are restored to formerly incarcerated individuals at a specific point in their sentence, such as upon release from prison or completion of parole or probation, without requiring any application or action by the individual. Automatic restoration policies remove one of the most significant practical barriers to re-enfranchisement: the burden of navigating a formal application process. Several states have adopted automatic restoration policies in recent years, often through ballot initiatives supported by voters across the political spectrum.

A system in which individuals who have been disenfranchised due to a felony conviction must apply to a government body, such as a clemency board, the governor's office, or a court, to have their voting rights restored. Application-based systems can create significant barriers to re-enfranchisement, including long waiting periods, complex paperwork requirements, discretionary decision-making with no guarantee of approval, and in some states fees or costs associated with the process. In states with application-based systems, restoration rates can be extremely low.

A body in some states that reviews applications from individuals seeking restoration of civil rights, including voting rights, lost as a result of a felony conviction, and makes recommendations to the governor. The governor typically has the final authority to grant or deny clemency. The composition, procedures, and standards applied by clemency boards vary by state, and in some states the process has been criticized for being slow, opaque, and highly discretionary.

A reference to the fact that there is no uniform national policy on voting rights restoration for people with felony convictions, with rules varying dramatically from state to state. This patchwork of policies means that a person convicted of the same offense may be able to vote immediately upon release in one state but face a years-long application process in another. The variation also creates confusion for people who have moved between states, as the rules of both their state of conviction and their current state of residence may be relevant to their eligibility.

Individuals who have been released from incarceration and, depending on their state's laws, may or may not have had their voting rights restored. The term is used in advocacy and policy discussions to describe this population and to emphasize their status as citizens with a stake in civic life. Research has found that political participation, including voting, is associated with reduced recidivism, suggesting that re-enfranchisement may have broader public safety benefits beyond the democratic values it serves.

The rights and regulations governing the participation of young people in elections. In the United States, the voting age is 18 for all federal, state, and most local elections, a threshold established by the 26th Amendment. However, a growing number of cities and counties have lowered the voting age to 16 for local elections, and some states allow 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by the general election. Advocates for lowering the voting age argue that 16 and 17-year-olds are affected by government decisions, pay taxes in many cases, and are capable of informed civic participation.

The minimum age at which a citizen is legally permitted to cast a ballot in an election. In the United States, the national voting age is 18, established by the 26th Amendment ratified in 1971. Some localities have established lower voting ages for local elections, and the question of whether to lower the voting age more broadly is an ongoing policy debate. The voting age has been different at various points in U.S. history and continues to vary across different democracies around the world.

A policy that allows young people who are not yet old enough to vote, typically 16 or 17-year-olds, to pre-register so that they are automatically added to the voter rolls when they turn 18. Pre-registration is available in a majority of states and is associated with higher rates of voter registration and turnout among young people when they first become eligible. It is particularly effective when paired with civic education programs in high schools.

The practice, currently permitted in a small number of U.S. cities and localities, of allowing non-citizen residents to vote in local elections such as school board or city council races. Proponents argue that non-citizens pay local taxes, are members of the community, and have a legitimate interest in decisions that affect their daily lives. Opponents argue that voting should be limited to citizens. Non-citizen voting is distinct from any form of voting in state or federal elections, which is prohibited by federal law, and has a historical precedent in the United States, where non-citizen voting was common in many states during the 18th and 19th centuries.