
In 2010 an estimated 5.85 million people in the United States (2.5% of the nation’s voting age population, excluding DC) could not vote due to a felony conviction – an increase from the 2004 total of 5.26 million and the highest number since at least 1960.
7.66% of African Americans in the United States could not vote due to a felony conviction. In Florida 23.32% of African Americans were disenfranchised – the highest percent in the nation.
Chart I below shows the number and percent of disenfranchised voters for the top 10 states with the highest levels of disenfranchisement. Chart II breaks down the total numbers of disenfranchised voters for each state. Chart III shows the rise in disenfranchisement from 1960-2010.
All data below were taken from The Sentencing Project’s July 2012 report “State-Level Estimates of Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States, 2010” , by Christopher Uggen, Sarah Shannon, and Jeff Manza.
I. Top 10 States with the Highest Percentage of Disenfranchised Voters, 2010
Rank | State | Total Number of Disenfranchised Voters | Percent of Disenfranchised Voters |
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1 | Florida | 1,541,602 | 10.42% | |||
2 | Mississippi | 182,814 | 8.27% | |||
3 | Kentucky | 243,842 | 7.35% | |||
4 | Virginia | 451,471 | 7.34% | |||
5 | Alabama | 262,354 | 7.19% | |||
6 | Tennessee | 341,815 | 7.05% | |||
7 | Wyoming | 25,657 | 5.99% | |||
8 | Nevada | 86,321 | 4.24% | |||
9 | Arizona | 199,734 | 4.19% | |||
10 | Georgia | 275,866 | 3.83% |
II. Disenfranchised Voters by State, 2010
Squares containing only the number 0 indicate that the state did not disenfranchise those population groups in 2010.
Since 2010 some states have changed their laws regarding felon disenfranchisement. For example, in 2011, Iowa rescinded automatic vote restoration for convicted felons who have completed their sentence.
For the current laws on felon voting in each state please see our chart on State Felon Voting Laws.
State | Prisoners | Parolees | Felony Probation | Jail | Ex-Felons | Total | Voting AgePopulation | Percent Disenfranchised | |
1. | Alabama | 31,1764 | 9,006 | 22,017 | 1,536 | 198,031 | 262,354 | 3,647,277 | Alabama: 7.19% |
2. | Alaska | 5,597 | 2,089 | 6,959 | 7 | 0 | 14,652 | 522,853 | Alaska: 2.80% |
3. | Arizona | 40,130 | 7,993 | 54,135 | 1,583 | 95,893 | 199,734 | 4,763,003 | Arizona: 4.19% |
4. | Arkansas | 16,204 | 21,106 | 27,250 | 633 | 0 | 65,193 | 2,204,443 | Arkansas: 2.96% |
5. | California | 165,062 | 105,133 | 0 | 8,282 | 0 | 278,477 | 27,958,916 | California: 1.00% |
6. | Colorado | 22,815 | 11,014 | 0 | 1,370 | 0 | 35,199 | 3,808,587 | Colorado: 0.93% |
7. | Connecticut | 19,321 | 2,894 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,215 | 2,757,082 | Connecticut: 0.81% |
8. | Delaware | 6,598 | 560 | 4,448 | 0 | 14,032 | 25,638 | 692,169 | Delaware: 3.70% |
9. | Florida | 104,306 | 4,093 | 103,318 | 6,525 | 1,323,360 | 1,541,602 | 14,799,219 | Florida: 10.42% |
10. | Georgia | 491,64 | 25,091 | 197,013 | 4,597 | 0 | 275,866 | 7,196,101 | Georgia: 3.83% |
11. | Hawaii | 5,912 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,912 | 1,056,484 | Hawaii: 0.56% |
12. | Idaho | 7,431 | 3,957 | 13,721 | 386 | 0 | 25,495 | 1,138,510 | Idaho: 2.24% |
13. | Illinois | 48,418 | 0 | 0 | 2,085 | 0 | 50,503 | 9,701,453 | Illinois: 0.52% |
14. | Indiana | 28,028 | 0 | 0 | 1,255 | 0 | 29,283 | 4,875,504 | Indiana: 0.60% |
15. | Iowa | 9,455 | 3,197 | 8,862 | 374 | 0 | 21,888 | 2,318,362 | Iowa: 0.94% |
16. | Kansas | 9,051 | 5,063 | 3,704 | 691 | 0 | 18,509 | 2,126,179 | Kansas: 0.87% |
17. | Kentucky | 20,544 | 14,628 | 25,688 | 1,998 | 180,984 | 243,842 | 3,315,996 | Kentucky: 7.35% |
18. | Louisiana | 39,445 | 26,202 | 42,599 | 3,648 | 0 | 111,894 | 3,415,357 | Louisiana: 3.28% |
19. | Maine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,053,828 | Maine: 0.00% |
20. | Maryland | 22,645 | 13,195 | 26,164 | 1,584 | 63,588 | 4,420,588 | Maryland: 1.44% | |
21. | Massachusetts | 11,312 | 0 | 0 | 1,448 | 0 | 12,760 | 5,128,706 | Massachusetts: 0.25% |
22. | Michigan | 44,113 | 0 | 0 | 1,820 | 0 | 45,933 | 7,539,572 | Michigan: 0.61% |
23. | Minnesota | 9,796 | 5,807 | 42,661 | 962 | 0 | 59,226 | 4,019,862 | Minnesota: 1.47% |
24. | Mississippi | 21,067 | 6,434 | 26,793 | 1,173 | 127,346 | 182,814 | 2,211,742 | Mississippi: 8.27% |
State | Prisoners | Parolees | Felony Probation | Jail | Ex-Felons | Total | Voting AgePopulation | Percent Disenfranchised | |
25. | Missouri | 30,623 | 19,421 | 54,916 | 1,064 | 0 | 106,024 | 4,563,491 | Missouri: 2.32% |
26. | Montana | 3,716 | 0 | 0 | 230 | 0 | 3,946 | 765,852 | Montana: 0.52% |
27. | Nebraska | 4,587 | 941 | 4,080 | 312 | 7819 | 17,739 | 1,367,120 | Nebraska: 1.30% |
28. | Nevada | 12,653 | 4,964 | 8,067 | 717 | 59,919 | 86,321 | 2,035,543 | Nevada: 4.24% |
29. | New Hampshire | 2,761 | 0 | 0 | 184 | 0 | 2,945 | 1,029,236 | New_Hampshire: 0.29% |
30. | New Jersey | 25,007 | 15,563 | 57,517 | 2,289 | 0 | 100,376 | 6,726,680 | New Jersey: 1.49% |
31. | New Mexico | 6,659 | 3,146 | 17,781 | 781 | 0 | 28,367 | 1,540,507 | New Mexico: 1.84% |
32. | New York | 56,656 | 48,542 | 0 | 2,935 | 0 | 108,133 | 15,053,173 | New York: 0.72% |
33. | North Carolina | 40,116 | 3,621 | 36,869 | 1,826 | 0 | 82,432 | 7,253,848 | North Carolina: 1.14% |
34. | North Dakota | 1,487 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 0 | 1,584 | 522,720 | North Dakota: 0.30% |
35. | Ohio | 51,712 | 0 | 0 | 2,130 | 0 | 53,842 | 8,805,753 | Ohio: 0.61% |
36. | Oklahoma | 26,252 | 2,627 | 21,642 | 970 | 0 | 51,491 | 2,821,685 | Oklahoma: 1.82% |
37. | Oregon | 14,014 | 0 | 0 | 683 | 0 | 14,679 | 2,964,621 | Oregon: 0.50% |
38. | Pennsylvania | 51,264 | 0 | 0 | 3,608 | 0 | 54,872 | 9,910,224 | Pennsylvania: 0.55% |
39. | Rhode Island | 3,357 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,357 | 828,611 | Rhode Island: 0.41% |
40. | South Carolina | 23,578 | 6,412 | 11,739 | 1,427 | 0 | 43,156 | 3,544,890 | South Carolina: 1.22% |
41. | South Dakota | 3,434 | 2,843 | 0 | 145 | 0 | 6,422 | 611,383 | South Dakota: 1.05% |
42. | Tennessee | 27,451 | 12,157 | 52,178 | 2,221 | 247,808 | 341,815 | 4,850,104 | Tennessee: 7.05% |
43. | Texas | 173,649 | 104,763 | 247,136 | 6,939 | 0 | 532,487 | 18,279,737 | Texas: 2.91% |
44. | Utah | 6,807 | 0 | 0 | 672 | 0 | 7,479 | 1,892,858 | Utah: 0.40% |
45. | Vermont | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 496,508 | Vermont: 0.00% |
46. | Virginia | 37,410 | 2,624 | 56,654 | 2,840 | 351,943 | 451,471 | 6,147,347 | Virginia: 7.34% |
47. | Washington | 18,235 | 6,956 | 26,785 | 1,114 | 0 | 53,090 | 5,143,186 | Washington: 1.03% |
48. | West Virginia | 6,681 | 1,796 | 6,876 | 288 | 0 | 15,640 | 1,465,576 | West Virginia: 1.07% |
49. | Wisconsin | 22,724 | 19,572 | 22,602 | 1,361 | 0 | 66,259 | 4,347,494 | Wisconsin: 1.52% |
50. | Wyoming | 2,112 | 682 | 3,236 | 157 | 19,470 | 25,657 | 428,224 | Wyoming: 5.99% |
State | Prisoners | Parolees | Felony Probation | Jail | Ex-Felons | Total | Voting AgePopulation | Percent Disenfranchised | |
US Totals: | 1,391,123 | 524,092 | 1,233,412 | 76,949 | 2,626,604 | 5,852,180 | 234,564,071 | 2.50% |
III. Disenfranchised Voters, 1960-2010

In 1960, the number of voters who were disenfranchised due to a felony conviction was 1,762,582. By the late 1970s this number dropped 33% to 1,176,234, but then began to rise.
By 2010 the number of people who lost the vote due to a felony conviction had grown to 5,852,180.
This graph was taken from The Sentencing Project’s July 2012 report “State-Level Estimates of Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States, 2010” .