Disenfranchising people with felony convictions was a tactic by white supremacists after the Civil War to prevent Black men from influencing elections. Why are 48 U.S. states still doing it?
A type of law first created after the end of slavery to prohibit Black men from voting prevented more than 4.6 million Americans from participating in the 2022 midterm elections. Forty-eight states strip voting rights from people convicted of felonies, no small decision in the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world. A third of those affected, despite representing less than 15% of the population, are Black.
