One of every 10 adults in Mississippi is disenfranchised

there are 22 crimes which disenfranchise mississippi voting residents. this impacts about 16% of the black electorate, and 10% of adults. their rate triples the national rate of disenfranchisement, according to a new report by the mississippi naacp, one voice and the sentencing project.

out of the estimated 218,100 people disenfranchised in mississippi, 93% are living in the community, either under parole supervision or probation, or they have completed their criminal sentence.

in order to regain voting rights, disenfranchised individuals have three options: 1) apply for a pardon from the governor; 2) apply for an executive order restoring civil rights from the governor; or 3) have the state legislature pass a bill of suffrage on their behalf (which must pass with 2/3 majority.

this cumbersome - and racially oppressive - process results in very few people actually regaining their right to vote. in fact, between 2000 and 2015, only 335 out of 166,494 people who completed their sentence had their voting rights fully restored.   

the report offers some recommendations: 1) notify individuals at sentencing about loss of voting rights and how to regain them after completing their sentence; 2) increase data collection on disenfranchisement across the state; and 3) implement automatic rights restoration for people who have completed the terms of their felony sentence.