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Disenfranchisement thesis posted

Jon Yount's groundbreaking thesis on prisoner disenfranchisement has been digitized.

by Peter Wagner, December 8, 2002

We just completed scanning and converting a groundbreaking thesis on disenfranchisement written by Jon Yount, a prisoner in Pennsylvania. The March 1998 piece, Felon Disenfranchisement: Pennsylvania’s Sinister Face of Vote Dilution discusses disenfranchisement, racial disparities, the Voting Rights Act and the census-based dilution of minority and urban voting strength. After this thesis, Jon Yount drafted the complaint that led to striking down Pennsylvania’s unconstitutional 5 year waiting period for ex-felon voting registration.

Related briefings:

  1. Massachusetts Disenfranchises its Prisoners +
  2. Census’ cell count steals voting power +
  3. New graphic shows that states with harshest disenfranchisement laws will likely pick the next president +

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