Felons set to vote in North Carolina

North Carolina’s felons on probation or parole will be able to line up at polling places in November after a new ruling took effect in the state Wednesday. Trial judges ruled in March that a 1973 law prohibiting felons still on probation or parole from voting violated the state constitution. They said it mostly discriminated against black Americans. In May, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging that ruling, but the hearing date has not been set. Unless the Supreme Court reverses the trial court’s ruling, many felons who are not imprisoned and who applied to vote will be able to exercise that right in November.

How many people will this affect? About 56,000 could be added to the more than 7.3 million registered voters in North Carolina, according to evidence presented in the trial. This could make a difference in the statewide races for U.S. Senate and the state Supreme Court this November. North Carolina is also a presidential battleground state that went to Trump by a slim margin in 2020, so the new voters could make a difference in that election. 

Dig deeper: From the WORLD Archives, read Charissa Koh’s report in Compassion on Florida’s debates over whether ex-felons who owe fines should vote.