The Laws That Are Blocking 1 in 5 African Americans From Voting

An estimated 5.8 million Americans are prohibited from voting because they have criminal records.

The laws that block ex-felons from the right to vote range state by state. Some individuals that have lost their right to vote have committed serious crimes but in several states a misdemeanor would block you from the voting booth. The issue gained national attention last week when Attorney General Eric Holder called the laws “unnecessary and unjust.”
Take a look at the stats below for more details on who’s disproportionately affected by the nation’s current sentencing laws:

To learn more about felony disenfranchisement laws in your state visit the ACLU’s interactive map.

For further reading, The Sentencing Project also has a primer that details the state of felony disenfranchisement on a national level. [PDF]