One report shows that nearly 12,000 voters were disqualified statewide from October 2008 to November 2010. Another shows that nearly 6,200 were disqualified from 2006 to 2010. The Election Division wasn't able to explain the discrepancy.
The sheer number of potential voters swept up by the law is another concern, said Brenda Wright, director of the Democracy Program at Demos, a nonpartisan organization that focuses on public policy research and advocacy.
"Trying to disfranchise everyone who even gets convicted of (a misdemeanor) would really cut a broad swath through eligible voters," she said.
The state does not track the race or ethnicity of people taken off the voter rolls and could not say how many cancelations were tied to misdemeanor or felony convictions.
