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Chloe Mayer

By Chloe Mayer

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Historically, people convicted of crimes in the U.S. automatically lost their right to vote.

In some cases, convicted felons lost their voting rights forever, meaning they could never participate in elections again—even after they had been released from prison.

But over the past few decades, state lawmakers have increasingly begun to restore voting rights to convicted felons, although the extent of restoration of voting rights varies between states.

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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders' call for all prisoners to be allowed the right to vote drew polarized reactions back in 2019. His supporters insisted democracy should be extended to everyone, while his critics said criminals should be banned from participating as part of their punishment.

With the 2022 midterm elections coming up, the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) has compiled a guide breaking down the rules for felons who wish to vote in each state, and each state can broadly be considered to fall into one of four categories:

It should be noted that "restoration of voting rights," whether occurring automatically after release or otherwise, is not the same as being registered to vote. It simply means that the person has the right to vote under state law; they will still need to arrange their own registration in order to actually do so. In California, voter registration forms are issued to each inmate upon their release.

Previously, North Carolina did not allow felons to vote until the full completion of their sentence; including time spent on probation or parole. But that law was changed as of July 27, meaning that people serving their felony sentence outside of prison in North Carolina are now eligible to register to vote.

Local activists in North Carolina are trying to raise awareness of the new rules.

Andrea "Muffin" Hudson, director of North Carolina Community Bail Fund of Durham, said: "Our communities have been underrepresented and disenfranchised for far too long. We want to get the word out to as many people as we can that they can still register and vote... to have their voices be heard this election."

See below for the voting rights afforded to felons in each state.

felons voting in U.S.

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Felons never lose their right to vote, even while they are incarcerated:

Felons' voting rights are lost while they are incarcerated, but are automatically restored after their release:

Felons' voting rights are lost until the completion of their sentence including parole or probation, and are automatically restored afterward:

Felons lose their voting rights indefinitely for some crimes, or require a governor's pardon or some other action or waiting period in order for voting rights to be restored:

For the rules about how voting rights may be restored, visit the NCSL's website, which contains a table setting out the policies in each state.

Update 11/7/22 3:31 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include additional comments by Andrea "Muffin" Hudson.

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