Collateral Consequences: Locked Out of the 2024 U.S. Elections

By Maggie O’Donnell

Director of Policy & Advocacy

Next month, Americans will head to the polls for a historic election. With an individual who has been convicted of felonies and a prosecutor as the presidential candidates, as well as a vice-presidential candidate who is also justice-impacted, the scope of our criminal justice system is, quite literally, on the ballot. 

And yet, many of those who have been impacted by our criminal justice system will be denied the right to vote in November — simply because they have a criminal record themselves. 

This practice of disenfranchisement is, in large part, rooted in our nation’s dark history of Jim Crow-era laws and decades of overreliance on mass incarceration. Since the 1970s, the number of people incarcerated in the United States has increased by 500%. Today, there are approximately two million individuals living in prisons or jails, making us the worldwide leader in incarceration. The result? One in three adults in the U.S. has some form of a criminal record and the collateral consequences of this are lifelong, and life-changing. A criminal record carries with it not just barriers to voting, but to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. Unfortunately, access to the ballot box is no exception. 

An estimated 4.6 million people are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. Only two states — Maine and Vermont — have protected the right to vote for justice-impacted individuals. The vast majority of those barred from voting this November have either fully completed their sentence or are on supervision through probation or parole. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of additional Americans are legally eligible to vote but are unable to because they’re being held in jail pretrial. They are our neighbors, our friends, our family members. They are Americans. 

Disenfranchisement is a racial equity issue.  

Our criminal legal system disproportionately hurts Black and Brown people. It’s unsurprising then that African Americans of eligible voting age are disenfranchised at a rate 3.5 times higher than that of other voters. It’s also worth noting that, in instances when Black voters can exercise their right to vote, they are on average forced to wait in line for twice as long as white voters. We must acknowledge that these disparities are not accidental, but by design. Disenfranchisement is but one of many policies orchestrated throughout U.S. history to suppress the freedoms and voices of Americans of color.  

Disenfranchisement is an economic issue. 

Expanding people’s access to voting leads to improved economic status. In a recent study, experts found that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is responsible for narrowing the wage gap between Black and white men by about 20% in the geographic areas where it was best enforced. When people have higher wages it increases their economic mobility, further strengthening our workforce and economy — and our communities. 

Disenfranchisement is a public safety issue.  

Exercising one’s civic duty is a critical component to successful reentry and helps reduce recidivism. In fact, research suggests that individuals who had their voting rights restored had a lower likelihood of re-arrest compared to those in states where restrictions were upheld for people with criminal records. This is likely because, when given the opportunity to vote, people who are justice-impacted often report feeling like they have an increased voice in the political process, in turn helping establish that they are a positive and contributing member of their community. 

Disenfranchisement is out of step with international norms.  

To vote is a fundamental right in democratic nations like ours. Unlike the U.S., most countries across the world either permit all individuals with criminal records to vote or have restrictions in place for only the rarest of instances. This goes to show that the “land of the free” is in fact a global outlier in its willingness to deny citizens their civil liberties. 

The arc still bends towards justice. 

Thanks to the tireless work of voting rights advocates and organizations, people with criminal records are regaining their right to vote.  

In 2018, the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FFRC) became a household name when they helped successfully restore voting rights for over 1.4 million Floridians through Amendment 4. In Georgia, organizations like HOAPE are dedicated to creating a more equitable, just, and inclusive state where every individual's rights are protected — including those who have been impacted by the justice system. Similar organizations are working to restore voting rights in nearly every state. 

Many states have also started to scale back disenfranchisement, choosing instead to protect the right to vote. Since 1997, over two million people have regained voting rights and, as of May 2024,  27 states had introduced 160 bills that addressed voting for citizens who served, or are serving, prison sentences. Last year, Minnesota enacted a law that allows all Minnesotans who are not currently incarcerated for a felony conviction to register to vote. It was the state’s largest expansion of voting rights in over 50 years. New Mexico also passed legislation last year that allows individuals to vote while on probation or parole, ends the practice of automatically cancelling a person’s voter registration when convicted of a felony, and ensures that individuals are given the opportunity to register to vote when leaving prison. 

Many Americans who are justice-impacted – but not disenfranchised – often do not realize that they can vote in an election. Targeted outreach can change that. Today, advocates are prioritizing education, since justice-impacted individuals often report uncertainty about their ability to vote. The U.S. Vote Foundation, for instance, recently launched a voting rights restoration tool that provides state-specific guidance to help people with records both check their eligibility status and defend their right to vote. In an effort to elevate stories from the justice-impacted community, U.S. Vote is also profiling individuals like Michelle Cirocco, Chief Impact Officer for Televerde and Executive Director for the Televerde Foundation, and Louis L. Reed, Founder of Decoded Story Lab, who lost and then regained their franchise.  

A role for the private sector 

At RBIJ, we know that businesses are powerful catalysts for change — and increasingly, companies are taking a stand on issues like voting rights. The NBA Social Justice Coalition, for instance, has historically gone dark on Election Day so that players, coaches, and team employees can vote. B Lab U.S. & Canada is also encouraging businesses within the B Corps community to do their part by changing internal policies like paid time off for voting.  

Your business can be the next to join in this crucial movement for voting rights. If you’re an employer interested in learning more, contact maggie@rbij.org.