New Report: Restoring Voting Rights for people with felony convictions can improve public safety

The Sentencing Project released a new report, “Increasing Public Safety by Restoring Voting Rights,” which finds that restoring voting rights for people with felony convictions can improve community safety

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WASHINGTON, DC, April 25, 2023 - The report highlights that having the right to vote or the act of voting is related to reduced recidivism for Americans--who have been involved with the criminal legal system. Voting rights restoration also influences justice-impacted individuals' perception of themselves as community members and of their ability to remain crime-free.

“People with felony convictions work, pay taxes, and raise families, but they do not have a voice in the laws and policies that govern their lives,” said Kristen Budd, a Research Analyst at The Sentencing Project and lead author on the report. “Lawmakers should follow the data and dismantle the laws and policies that exclude justice impacted people from participating in our democracy.”

The report features a number of studies that underscore the beneficial effects of restoring voting rights for all Americans who have been convicted of a felony. It finds that: