The blog Sociological Images reports on a disturbing nationwide phenomenon: Black citizens being prohibited from voting because of their criminal histories, often long after they've been released from prison and completed all the requirements of probation or parole. Nationwide, 7.5 percent of African-Americans are disenfranchised. In Washington State, it's 14.3 percent---meaning that one in seven black Washington residents are unable to vote.



In Washington State, inmates, parolees, probationers, and convicted felons are not allowed to vote. Last year, a federal appeals court ruled that the state's felon-disenfranchisement law did not violate the Voting Rights Act. African-Americans make up about 4 percent of Washington State's population, but about 17 percent of its prison population.

Seven states have even higher rates of disenfranchised black residents than Washington: Florida (16 percent), Virginia (16.1 percent), Nevada (17.1 percent), Kentucky (17.4 percent), South Dakota (18.9 percent), New Mexico (24.7 percent), and Iowa (24.9 percent).