A new report from the ACLU of Kansas finds that a shockingly large number of Kansans, nearly 85,000, or 1 in every 35 people in the state, are returning citizens who are eligible to vote.
These individuals have completed sentences for past felonies, including being discharged from any probation or parole, and are eligible to register and vote under Kansas law.
Among this group, only 14,147 have actually registered to vote, for a registration rate of 16.6%, far below the registration rate of 71% among the state’s general population.
“We found a gap of 71,000 Kansans who are returning citizens and eligible to vote, but who remain unregistered and unincluded in our democratic process. This demonstrates just how rampant and devastating the impact of misinformation, structural challenges, and lack of targeted outreach have been on about 2% of the state’s population.
Statement from Rashane Hamby, Policy Director of the ACLU of Kansas
The report, “Unheard Voices: Restoring Voting Rights to Returning Citizens to Build an Inclusive, Accountable Democracy in Kansas,” is the first of its kind in Kansas and one of only a handful of such projects in the entire nation.
Through collaboration with Free Our Vote the project created a comprehensive, statewide dataset of individuals with felony convictions dating from the period 1990-2024 through multiple sources, including the Kansas District Courts, Kansas Department of Corrections, and county-level records.
All data involved in the project came from public records, but ones that have not previously been aggregated, cross-referenced, cleaned for accuracy, or analyzed in this way.
“Chronic misinformation, systemic conditions, and policy barriers have left thousands of Kansans unheard. Their voices are absent from the democratic process, contradicting the values of equality and representation that are central to the state’s identity as the Free State. Democracy is at its core the idea that each of us counts and has a say in our decision-making as a community. And in 2024, the absence of returning Kansans from our electoral process impoverishes our democracy, government accountability, policy outcomes that impact all of us.”
Statement from Micah Kubic, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kansas
In addition to the surprisingly high number of impacted Kansans, the report also reveals key findings on demographic disparities and recommends that policymakers implement certain proposals.