In 2016 an estimated 6.1 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 of 4.2% from the 2010 total of 5.85 million and the highest number since at least 1960.

7.44% of African Americans in the United States could not vote due to a felony conviction in 2016. In Kentucky 26.15% of African Americans were disenfranchised – the highest percentage in all US states. Florida had the highest total (1,686,318) and per capita (10.43%) disenfranchised population of all US states.

All data were taken from The Sentencing Project’s Oct. 2016 report “6 Million Lost Voters: State-Level Estimates of Felony Disenfranchisement, 2016” by Christopher Uggen, Ryan Larson, and Sarah Shannon.

Top 10 States with the Highest % of Disenfranchised Voters, 2016

Rank State Total Disenfranchised Percent Disenfranchised 1 Florida 1,686,318 10.43% 2 Mississippi 218,181 9.63% 3 Kentucky 312,046 9.14% 4 Tennessee 421,227 8.26% 5 Virginia 508,680 7.81% 6 Alabama 286,266 7.62% 7 Wyoming 23,847 5.33% 8 Arizona 221,170 4.25% 9 Nevada 89,267 4.02% 10 Georgia 248,751 3.23%

Disenfranchised Voters by State, 2016

Squares containing only the number 0 indicate that the state did not disenfranchise those population groups in 2016.

For the current laws on felon voting in each state, please see our chart on State Felon Voting Laws.

State Prison Parole Felony

Probation Jail Post-

Sentence Total Voting Age

Population Percent Alabama 30,585 6,580 15,626 1,578 231,896 286,266 3,755,483 7.62% Alaska 5,497 2,035 6,900 7 0 14,439 552,166 2.61% Arizona 44,509 7,241 51,362 1,341 116,717 221,170 5,205,215 4.25% Arkansas 19,224 21,811 24,695 975 0 66,705 2,272,904 2.93% California 136,302 86,254 0 0 0 222,557 30,023,902 0.74% Colorado 21,207 8,673 0 1,066 0 30,946 4,199,509 0.74% Connecticut 14,926 2,419 0 0 0 17,345 2,826,827 0.61% Delaware 6,858 716 4,074 0 4,067 15,716 741,548 2.12% Florida 102,555 4,208 86,886 4,822 1,487,847 1,686,318 16,166,143 10.43% Georgia 50,900 23,545 170,194 4,112 0 248,751 7,710,688 3.23% Hawaii 6,364 0 0 0 0 6,364 1,120,770 0.57% Idaho 7,873 5,057 9,863 314 0 23,106 1,222,093 1.89% Illinois 47,537 0 0 2,089 0 49,625 9,901,322 0.50% Iowa 9,127 6,133 12,365 410 23,976 52,012 2,395,103 2.17% Indiana 28,028 0 0 1,630 0 29,658 5,040,224 0.59% Kansas 9,466 4,023 3,426 679 0 17,594 2,192,084 0.80% Kentucky 22,968 16,729 27,323 2,039 242,987 312,046 3,413,425 9.14% Louisiana 35,614 31,450 37,761 3,211 0 108,035 3,555,911 3.04% Maine 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,072,948 0.00% Maryland 20,378 0 0 1,087 0 21,465 4,658,175 0.46% Massachusetts 10,254 0 0 921 0 11,176 5,407,335 0.21% Michigan 42,661 0 0 1,560 0 44,221 7,715,272 0.57% Minnesota 11,369 8,148 43,215 608 0 63,340 4,205,207 1.51% Mississippi 13,752 8,051 28,463 1,422 166,494 218,181 2,265,485 9.63% Missouri 32,768 16,808 38,870 1,219 0 89,665 4,692,196 1.91% Montana 3,816 0 0 330 0 4,146 806,529 0.51% North Carolina 37,446 10,977 40,867 1,888 0 91,179 7,752,234 1.18% North Dakota 2,042 0 0 136 0 2,178 583,001 0.37% Nebraska 6,377 782 2,952 384 7,069 17,564 1,425,853 1.23% Nevada 11,560 6,828 8,097 701 62,080 89,267 2,221,681 4.02% New Hampshire 2,856 0 0 175 0 3,031 1,066,610 0.28% New Jersey 19,964 14,831 58,123 1,396 0 94,315 6,959,192 1.36% New Mexico 7,205 2,838 13,352 891 0 24,286 1,588,201 1.53% New York 50,513 44,590 0 2,477 0 97,581 15,584,974 0.63% Ohio 51,102 0 0 1,736 0 52,837 8,984,946 0.59% Oklahoma 27,857 2,572 26,475 1,398 0 58,302 2,950,017 1.98% Oregon 14,228 0 0 519 0 14,748 3,166,121 0.47% Pennsylvania 49,269 0 0 3,705 0 52,974 10,112,229 0.52% Rhode Island 3,355 0 0 0 0 3,355 845,254 0.40% South Carolina 20,141 4,621 21,464 1,011 0 47,238 3,804,558 1.24% South Dakota 3,464 2,643 4,114 170 0 10,392 647,145 1.61% Tennessee 29,271 13,186 52,654 2,763 323,354 421,227 5,102,688 8.26% Texas 161,658 111,632 216,033 6,605 0 495,928 20,257,343 2.45% Utah 6,925 0 0 744 0 7,669 2,083,423 0.37% Vermont 0 0 0 0 0 0 506,119 0.00% Virginia 38,694 1,604 56,908 2,905 408,570 508,680 6,512,571 7.81% Washington 18,395 3,811 25,164 1,182 0 48,552 5,558,509 0.87% West Virginia 7,042 3,187 4,109 389 0 14,727 1,464,532 1.01% Wisconsin 22,851 19,537 22,101 1,118 0 65,606 4,476,711 1.47% Wyoming 2,536 607 3,148 141 17,414 23,847 447,212 5.33% US TOTALS: 1,329,288 504,127 1,116,585 63,855 3,092,471 6,106,327 247,219,588 2.47%

Disenfranchised Voters, 1960-2016

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 2016 the number of people who lost the vote due to a felony conviction had grown to 6,106,327.