Model presentation

of opinion study findings

Who supports felon disenfranchisement?

 Background on the controversy
Currently 48 states and DC bar convicted felons from voting for
some period, in 13 cases for life.

Given the mass incarceration of black and Latino men due to

racially disparate enforcement of drug laws, felon
disenfranchisement takes the vote from millions of men of color
and changes the racial balance of voters in some districts.

For example, in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton lost Florida to

Donald Trump by just 119,770 votes. 1.5 million Florida residents
can’t vote due to a felony - 1 in 4 black adults. Black voters
favored Clinton with 88% of their vote. Florida flipped the
election. So if ex-felons had been able to vote in Florida, the
outcome of the presidential would have been different.
• The research question: Who supports or opposes
felon disenfranchisement?

• The hypothesis: White Americans will support longer

periods that felons shouldn’t be able to vote than
black or Latino Americans will.
• Data source: Telephone interviews of 503 randomly selected
adults by Pinaire, Heumann and Bilotta (Fordham Urban Law Journal, 2002)

• Eight interview questions covered the purpose of the criminal

justice system, treatment of felons and disenfranchisement of
felons
 Racial breakdown of opinions
on felon disenfranchisement
Should felons White Black Hispanic /
lose the right Latino
to vote...
never? 10% 11% 6%
only while 29% 47% 33%
incarcerated?
while 36% 39% 33%
incarcerated
or on parole or
probation?
for life? 16% Zero 2%
Numbers do not add up to 100% because “don’t know” answers are omitted.
 Interpretation of data

• Whites are much more likely to support lifelong

disenfranchisement than black or Latino
interviewees.

• Whites are significantly less likely to support taking

away the vote only during incarceration.

• Why? Probably due to different amounts of personal

contact with convicts and amounts of racial
stereotyping about convicts.
Differences of opinion also correlated with gender,
education level and with political party affiliation.

Opinions on disenfranchisement lined up with overall

beliefs about the goals of the criminal justice system:

• Those who saw the main purpose as rehabilitation

tended to support post-incarceration voting rights.

• Those who saw the main purpose as punishment or

deterrence from further crime tended to oppose
post-incarceration voting rights.
However, in no racial category did the majority of
respondents support the current prevailing policy.

In fact, over 87% of respondents support

restoration of voting rights at some point,
suggesting strong public support for legislative
change.