felon disenfranchisement

January 11, 2019 - In Florida, where a new constitutional amendment has restored voting rights to most ex-felons, organizers are planning a voter registration and engagement campaign to reach those with — and without — criminal convictions. Meanwhile, a lawsuit aims to expand voting rights to people with felony records in Kentucky.

September 13, 2018 - In 1868, Southern states held constitutional conventions in which recently freed black men helped eliminate vestiges of the Confederacy and draft progressive blueprints for state government. While some of the provisions survived Jim Crow, conservative politicians today are chipping away at Reconstruction's radical legacy.

April 27, 2018 - A federal appeals court recently ruled that Florida can keep its harsh re-enfranchisement system in place. But a November ballot referendum there could lead to reforms, which have also recently come to states including Alabama and Virginia.

October 5, 2017 - Recent efforts to limit voting in Alabama could play a critical role in what's shaping up to be a closer-than-expected race between far-right Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

March 24, 2017 - Florida has the harshest felon disenfranchisement law in the country, but it's now being challenged by a ballot initiative campaign led by a former felon as well as by a class-action lawsuit.

September 8, 2016 - While Virginia's Democratic governor battles Republican lawmakers over restoring voting rights for ex-felons who've completed their sentences, almost 200,000 of the state's residents — almost half of them African-American — remain disenfranchised, mostly for nonviolent crimes.

May 6, 2016 - Last month Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued an executive order restoring voting rights to 200,000 ex-felons. Republican lawmakers now want to challenge the order in court.