The Impact of Disenfranchisement on Political Participation

This chapter considers how many disenfranchised felons would participate nationally and how they would vote if they were eligible. It shows that a significant share of the disenfranchised felon population would vote if they were given the opportunity. To be sure, their turnout rates would fall far below those of the rest of the electorate. In presidential elections such as the 2000 or 2004 contests, about one-third, or over 1.5 million currently disenfranchised citizens, would have participated if they had been eligible. In light of the conservative assumptions of the models used, it seems more likely that this figure is too low than that it is too high. Under any circumstance, it represents the loss of a very large number of voices and votes.