Last updated on: 3/22/2023 | Author: ProCon.org

Number of People by State Who Cannot Vote Due to a Felony Conviction

According to The Sentencing Project, about 4.6 million Americans were disenfranchised (not allowed to vote) because of a felony conviction in 2022, down from about 5.2 million in 2020.

Each state determines voting policy for people convicted of felonies within its borders. The policies range from being allowed to vote from prison to permanently losing voting rights.

Estimates of Disenfranchised People with Felony Convictions, 2020*

*The Sentencing Project noted that these estimates are not head counts.

StateTotal DisenfranchisedVoting Age Population% Disenfranchised
Alabama328,1983,671,1108.94%
Alaska5,541530,3851.04%
Arizona233,8164,812,7644.86%
Arkansas87,1872,195,8703.97%
California243,18125,232,6340.96%
Colorado22,6073,979,3250.57%
Connecticut20,1242,600,9790.77%
Delaware11,524704,1081.64%
Florida1,132,49314,724,1137.69%
Georgia275,0897,254,6933.79%
Hawaii4,8991,016,5560.48%
Idaho32,5001,192,7422.72%
Illinois39,0059,055,1870.43%
Indiana30,6594,876,2180.63%
Iowa34,2272,312,6661.48%
Kansas21,2562,077,5661.02%
Kentucky197,6723,338,1985.92%
Louisiana76,9243,452,7672.23%
Maine01,059,5420%
Maryland18,7784,262,3880.44%
Massachusetts8,9564,964,6860.18%
Michigan38,8197,472,6680.52%
Minnesota64,7004,037,2951.6%
Mississippi235,1522,228,65910.55%
Missouri95,4854,585,9942.08%
Montana4,221804,2630.52%
Nebraska22,3961,358,7861.65%
Nevada14,3971,973,6520.73%
New Hampshire2,9051,048,2010.28%
New Jersey19,8966,117,6150.33%
New Mexico18,4511,485,4901.24%
New York44,34313,686,6850.32%
North Carolina83,8377,413,1811.13%
North Dakota1,821562,6320.32%
Ohio50,4028,797,9150.57%
Oklahoma56,9952,819,1682.02%
Oregon15,8713,002,2610.53%
Pennsylvania48,8239,748,2900.5%
Rhode Island2,588789,0620.33%
South Carolina44,5843,731,3481.19%
South Dakota13,339635,4052.1%
Tennessee451,2274,964,9099.09%
Texas500,47417,859,4962.8%
Utah7,9871,982,9110.4%
Vermont0494,6740%
Virginia366,0656,096,2446%
Washington45,0905,173,9740.87%
West Virginia17,2741,442,0351.2%
Wisconsin69,3444,347,4131.6%
Wyoming11,403432,2842.64%
Total5,177,780228,407,0072.27%

Estimates of Disenfranchised People with Felony Convictions, 2022*

*The Sentencing Project noted that these estimates are not head counts.

StateTotal DisenfranchisedVoting Age Population% Disenfranchised
Alabama318,6813,709,1808.59%
Alaska6,552532,5531.23%
Arizona256,6365,049,9265.08%
Arkansas81,6582,219,4793.68%
California97,32825,774,9110.38%
Colorado17,4554,153,9760.42%
Connecticut6,8922,615,8150.26%
Delaware7,721723,1591.07%
Florida1,150,94415,296,7347.52%
Georgia234,4107,482,3293.13%
Hawaii3,0071,020,5170.29%
Idaho27,4851,255,4112.19%
Illinois31,4319,064,3960.35%
Indiana25,8014,933,5050.52%
Iowa30,1302,331,6531.29%
Kansas19,0262,097,0520.91%
Kentucky152,7273,362,3544.54%
Louisiana52,0733,467,8691.50%
Maine01,070,6120%
Maryland16,5874,313,1680.38%
Massachusetts7,7695,030,9860.15%
Michigan35,2817,528,9950.47%
Minnesota55,1924,113,4521.34%
Mississippi239,2092,238,13310.69%
Missouri82,7824,630,1151.79%
Montana4,223823,7970.51%
Nebraska17,9601,373,5611.31%
Nevada12,1882,071,2720.59%
New Hampshire2,5241,065,2990.24%
New Jersey13,9996,156,3800.23%
New Mexico17,5721,511,4061.16%
New York36,55313,764,7410.27%
North Carolina29,4617,636,4960.39%
North Dakota1,552564,9420.27%
Ohio47,0108,855,2900.53%
Oklahoma41,2122,855,8011.44%
Oregon13,3023,108,0300.43%
Pennsylvania42,9769,778,9570.44%
Rhode Island1,606795,0220.20%
South Carolina39,8823,849,6801.04%
South Dakota13,463644,8672.09%
Tennessee471,5925,082,2409.28%
Texas455,16018,578,8312.45%
Utah6,2382,082,8930.30%
Vermont0497,3910%
Virginia312,5406,198,5405.04%
Washington17,0015,344,6450.32%
West Virginia14,2151,428,5251.00%
Wisconsin65,3944,392,4901.49%
Wyoming10,306435,3572.37%
Total4,644,708232,912,7331.99%

For more demographic information, including the sentence status and races of disenfranchised people, please visit The Sentencing Project links below.

Sources:

Christopher Uggen, Ryan Larson, Sarah Shannon, and Arleth Pulido-Nava, “Locked Out 2020: Estimates of People Denied Voting Rights Due to a Felony Conviction,” sentencingproject.org, Oct. 30, 2020

Christopher Uggen, Ryan Larson, Sarah Shannon and Robert Stewart, “Locked Out 2022: Estimates of People Denied Voting Rights, “sentencingproject.org, Oct. 25, 2022