Moving Ideas has a new article in their voter protection series, Disenfranchised in America, highlighting segments of our society that regularly are denied the right to vote: students, DC citizens, felons, and non-citizens.

There are 4.7 million adults in the U.S. who are denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia deny felons the right to vote at some point, while 7 states permanently disenfranchise felons and 7 more permanently disenfranchise certain felons. Only Maine and Vermont allow felons to vote even while they are in prison. The “war on drugs” has led to a large population of African Americans being convicted of felony drug crimes resulting in 1.4 million, or 1 in 13, African Americans who are disenfranchised due to felony convictions. Even in those states where rights are restored to felons who have paid their debt to society, election officials and parole officers often misinform felons about their rights. There are a total of 9 million ex-felons, many whom do not know they have the right to vote.

Right to Vote is a campaign to restore the right to vote to felons. Their mission: