Navigating America’s Civic Hellhole After a Felony Conviction

By Gwen McKinney | Word In Black In many states, people convicted of felonies are sentenced to a kind of civic death penalty, permanently losing their right to vote.(WIB) – Only in America…Only two states (Maine and Vermont) do not impose voting rights restrictions on people with a felony conviction. Across the nation, formerly incarcerated people confront a patchwork quilt of barriers, poll taxes, and hoops that create a kind of civic hell hole denying returning citizens the right to cast a ballot. Only in America, a person with 34 felony convictions can register — not vote — for president of the United States. While the Constitution does not guarantee incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people voting rights, perversely a person convicted of a felony can seek election to federal office including the House of Representatives, the U.S, Senate and the presidency.RELATED& The Journey to& Voting& Rights Restoration for the Formerly IncarceratedEven after an individual has served their time and completed their sentence, the penalties denying them full voting rights of citizenship are clustered in a web of restrictions, obstacles and hoops, depending on the state where that citizen resides. Fifteen states deny voting rights to people with felony convictions, both...