5 million were denied a ballot in 2020, but it can (and must) be fewer next time

More Americans voted last year — both as a share of the eligible population and in raw numbers — than in any presidential election since 1900, when the "eligible population" looked quite different. Despite the pandemic and stubborn voting restrictions imposed by cynical politicians, nearly 160 million Americans registered their voices in a historic showing of the value we place in our democracy. But in at least one way, the "eligible population" still looked far too much like it did at the start of the last century: Approximately 5 million Americans were locked out of the process due to criminal convictions.

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