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The Politics of the Restoration of Ex-Felon Voting Rights: The Case of Iowa

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  • Marc, Meredith
  • Michael, Morse

Abstract

We investigate how the restoration of voting rights affects the political participation of ex-felons. Our primary analysis uses unique administrative data from Iowa, which changed how ex-felons restore their voting rights in both 2005 and 2011. Prior to 2005, ex-felons had to apply to the governor to restore their voting rights. We show that ex-felon turnout increased after Iowa began to automatically restore these rights. Consistent with misinformation being a significant barrier to ex-felons' political participation, ex-felons were more likely to vote if they were informed about this policy change. The application requirement was re-instated for ex-felons discharged since 2011 and we show that this reduced their 2012 presidential election turnout. We conclude by comparing the actual turnout rate of recently discharged ex-felons in Iowa, Maine, and Rhode Island to the turnout rate that Uggen and Manza's (2002) method predicts. This comparison suggests that although restoration procedures can substantively affect ex-felon turnout, restoration procedures are not the only reason why ex-felons vote less often than observably similar non-felons.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc, Meredith & Michael, Morse, 2015. "The Politics of the Restoration of Ex-Felon Voting Rights: The Case of Iowa," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 10(1), pages 41-100, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:now:jlqjps:100.00013026
    DOI: 10.1561/100.00013026
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    Cited by:

    1. Klumpp, Tilman & Mialon, Hugo M. & Williams, Michael A., 2017. "The Voting Rights of Ex-Felons and Election Outcomes in the United States," Working Papers 2017-3, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.

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