{"id":46793,"date":"2022-02-15T18:19:07","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T23:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aclu.org\/issues\/voter-restoration"},"modified":"2025-06-17T17:25:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T21:25:03","slug":"voter-restoration","status":"publish","type":"issue","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/issues\/voting-rights\/voter-restoration","title":{"rendered":"Voter Restoration"},"parent":46799,"menu_order":2,"template":"","class_list":["post-46793","issue","type-issue","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"featured-image":210942,"intro":"The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.","what-you-need-to-know":[{"highlighted":"A felony conviction can come with drastic consequences, including the loss of your right to vote; we\u2019re fighting back.","description":""}],"promo":{"description":"","button":"","url":""},"faq":{"description":"","faq-items":null},"featured-stories":[{"image":51722,"title":"National Voter Registration Day is Today: Here\u2019s What You Need to Know","content-type":"news_and_commentary","last-updated":"20221017","description":"When every eligible person can register and vote, the promise of democracy becomes more real for all of us. This election we all must vote for our values \u2013 fight for our rights.","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/voting-rights\/national-voter-registration-day-what-you-need-to-know"}],"latest-stories":[{"image":152339,"title":"At the Polls: Why do we take voting rights away in America? ","type":"podcast","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/podcast\/polls-why-do-we-take-voting-rights-away-america-ep-7"}],"whats-at-stake":{"title":"What's at Stake","description":"Some states ban voting only during incarceration, or while on probation or parole. And other states and jurisdictions, like Maine, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., don\u2019t disenfranchise people with felony convictions at all. The fact that these laws vary so dramatically only adds to the overall confusion that voters face, which is a form of voter suppression in itself.\r\n\r\nDue to racial bias in the criminal justice system, felony disenfranchisement laws disproportionately affect Black and Brown people, who often face harsher sentences than white people for the same offenses<\/a>. Many of these laws are rooted in the Jim Crow era, when legislators tried to block Black Americans\u2019 newly won right to vote by enforcing poll taxes, literacy tests, and other barriers that were nearly impossible to meet. To this day, the states with the most extreme disenfranchisement laws also have long histories of suppressing the rights of Black people."},"actions":"","drupal-id":289,"is_hidden_issue":""},"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Voter Restoration | American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/issues\/voting-rights\/voter-restoration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T21:25:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/issues\/voting-rights\/voter-restoration\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/issues\/voting-rights\/voter-restoration\",\"name\":\"Voter Restoration | American Civil Liberties Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-15T23:19:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-17T21:25:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/issues\/voting-rights\/voter-restoration\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"description\":\"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. 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