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Felon Disenfranchisement and Voter Turnout

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  • Thomas J. Miles

Abstract

Several states permanently disenfranchise convicted felons, and according to existing estimates, the population of disenfranchised felons is disproportionately male and African-American. This paper examines the impact of felon disenfranchisement on state-level voter turnout. First, the paper shows that the number of disenfranchised felons is so large that conventional measures of voter turnout, which fail to correct for the ineligibility of disenfranchised felons, significantly understate the participation rates of eligible African-American men. Second, the paper uses a triple-differences framework to test whether disenfranchisement actually reduces the turnout of African-American men. The estimates reveal that disenfranchisement has no discernible effect on state-level rates of voter turnout. The absence of an effect is consistent with the view that on average felons belong to demographic groups that, although eligible to vote, infrequently exercise that right. The estimates suggest that the impact and purpose of these laws are more modest than previously thought.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas J. Miles, 2004. "Felon Disenfranchisement and Voter Turnout," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 85-129, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlstud:v:33:y:2004:p:85-129
    DOI: 10.1086/381290
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    1. Thomas Buchmueller & John Dinardo, 2002. "Did Community Rating Induce an Adverse Selection Death Spiral? Evidence from New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 280-294, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Becky Pettit & Carmen Gutierrez, 2018. "Mass Incarceration and Racial Inequality," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(3-4), pages 1153-1182, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Marc Meredith & Michael Morse, 2014. "Do Voting Rights Notification Laws Increase Ex-Felon Turnout?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 651(1), pages 220-249, January.
    4. Traci R. Burch, 2014. "Effects of Imprisonment and Community Supervision on Neighborhood Political Participation in North Carolina," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 651(1), pages 184-201, January.
    5. Michael V. Haselswerdt, 2009. "Con Job: An Estimate of Ex‐Felon Voter Turnout Using Document‐Based Data," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(2), pages 262-273, June.
    6. Murat C. Mungan, 2017. "Over-incarceration and disenfranchisement," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 377-395, September.

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