Overview:
With less than two months until the 2020 General Election, one of the issues getting attention is the restoration of voting rights to people convicted of felonies. Some states are following a recent trend to restore voting rights, with five states restoring rights or expanding eligibility via legislative or executive action in 2019 (Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Nevada, New Jersey). Iowa, the last state to permanently disenfranchise individuals with felony convictions, joined the list of states making voting eligibility reforms when Governor Kim Reynolds issued an Executive Order on August 5, 2020 restoring voting rights to individuals who have completed their sentence, without requiring the repayment of legal financial obligations (LFOs). On the other hand, some states are continuing efforts to disenfranchise voters. Tennessee just enacted a law adding protest-related offenses to the list of felonies that can result in disenfranchisement, and Florida continues its legal battle to thwart the will of voters who passed Amendment 4 in 2018, which restored the right to vote to people with prior felony convictions (except murder and felony sex offenses) upon completion of their sentences.
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