LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada has restored voting rights to ex-felons, putting the state in line with at least a dozen other states that automatically grant voting rights to people once they're released from prison.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said at a news conference in Las Vegas Monday that voting is an important part of re-integrating into the community and his office would work to spread the word about the new law.

The change moves Nevada away from a more complex system in which an ex-felon's right to vote depended on their crime, completion of probation or parole, the year they were convicted and whether a judge approved giving them back the right to vote.

Supporters of the law estimate about 77,000 ex-felons in Nevada regain the right to vote under the change.