The latest Economist's Lexington section, which is where they discuss US topics, contends that "America is also one of the few countries to ban felons and, in some states, ex-felons from voting." 11 states currently deny ex-convicts the right to vote. The states are:
Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming.
These disenfranchisement laws impact male African Americans the most, of whom 14 percent have past criminal convictions: It's well documented that our criminal justice system is not race blind. It is pretty remarkable that we still have states in our union that disenfranchise ex-felons--essentially individuals who have served their time--and prohibit their participation at the voting booth.
So after reading the Economist I was curious to see what other countries are on this list. I did some research and came across this study that examined 45 "democratic" countries' voting restrictions for felons. The following 6 countries prohibited (with certain caveats noted) ex-felons from voting:
- Armenia
- Belgium
- Chile
- Finland
- Germany
- United States
Read more here.