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Press Release
Voting Rights Restored for Over 41,000 Missourians Starting Today
More than 41,000 Missouri residents will regain their right to vote as HB 1871 takes effect, ending felony voting bans for Missourians serving parole or felony probation.
Related to: Voting Rights, State Advocacy
[St. Louis, Missouri] — Today, August 28, 2026, more than 41,000 Missouri residents will regain their right to vote as HB 1871 takes effect, ending felony voting bans for Missourians serving parole or felony probation. The new law marks a major bipartisan achievement and meaningful step toward a more inclusive democracy. Signed into law by Governor Mike Kehoe, HB 1871 was championed by State Representative Melanie Stinnett, who first took up the issue after hearing directly from a constituent affected by Missouri’s voting restrictions.
“Missouri’s adoption of this important legislation is an overdue step toward ensuring that many people impacted by the criminal legal system are no longer excluded from our democracy,” said Bob Libal, Senior Campaign Strategist at The Sentencing Project. “These voting bans reflect a legacy designed to exclude Black residents and all marginalized communities from the democratic process. In Missouri, as across the country, felony disenfranchisement continues to dilute the political power of communities already overrepresented in the criminal legal system. Yet more than 10,000 Missourians on felony probation or parole—already living in their communities, working, raising families, and paying taxes—will still be denied a voice in the laws that govern them. While today’s progress is important, a truly inclusive democracy requires eliminating these barriers altogether.”
“As a formerly incarcerated person and representative of carceral systems-impacted people across Missouri, I resonate with the ‘othering’ that formerly incarcerated people experience in society,” said ML Smith, Founder of Missouri Justice Coalition. “The re-infranchisement of thousands of returned community members sends a clear signal that we can rejoin our communities as productive citizens with a voice in our elections.”
“This marks a significant step forward for Missouri and for the approximately 41,000 individuals whose voting rights will be restored,” said Jerika White, Criminal Justice Policy Manager at Empower Missouri. “Justice should include accountability, rehabilitation, and the opportunity to fully participate in our communities. Restoring the right to vote is an important part of successful reentry. This is not simply about restoring rights, it is about strengthening our democracy and ensuring that people who have served their time are not permanently defined by their past.”
“Missouri has taken a major step towards a more inclusive democracy today; for the first time, Missourians on felony probation and parole will be eligible to register and vote immediately upon release” said Denise Lieberman, Director and General Counsel of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition. “Now we need to ensure that the state agencies working with these 41,000 newly eligible citizens are taking proactive steps to educate and register those voters, and ensuring that citizens have the tools they need to get registered and cast a ballot. Missouri Voter Protection Coalition and our partners have launched an implementation campaign to advocate with state officials and educate community members about this important change, while lobbying to remove exclusionary carveouts in this law that continue to keep some formerly incarcerated citizens from voting.”
About Empower Missouri
Empower Missouri, founded in 1901, was created to address poverty & inequality in Missouri. We work to secure basic human needs and equal justice for every person in our state through coalition-building and advocacy.
About Missouri Justice Coalition
MoJustice is the only statewide organization founded by a formerly incarcerated person that’s dedicated to serving as a unifying force across the state of Missouri, bringing together individuals impacted by the criminal punishment system. Our mission is to educate, empower, and unite community members, transforming them into a powerful advocacy base. Through collaborative efforts, MoJustice strives to drive meaningful reforms within the Missouri prison system, addressing the systemic injustices, inhumane conditions, and absence of accountability. We firmly believe that collective amplification and collective action are essential in building a statewide base of effective and sustained prison advocacy.
About Missouri Voter Protection Coalition
The Missouri Voter Protection Coalition (MOVPC) is Missouri’s non-partisan state voting rights organization that anchors legal, legislative, policy, and Election Protection efforts in the state to identify and dismantle discriminatory voting systems and expand ballot access. MOVPC leads advocacy on voting rights legislation in the Missouri Legislature.
About The Sentencing Project
The Sentencing Project advocates for effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice. www.sentencingproject.org
Facts Only
* More than 41,000 Missouri residents will regain their right to vote as HB 1871 takes effect.
* The law ends felony voting bans for Missourians serving parole or felony probation.
* HB 1871 was signed into law by Governor Mike Kehoe.
* State Representative Melanie Stinnett championed HB 1871.
* Bob Libal, Senior Campaign Strategist at The Sentencing Project, commented on the legacy of voting bans excluding Black residents and marginalized communities.
* ML Smith, Founder of Missouri Justice Coalition, discussed the "othering" experienced by formerly incarcerated people.
* Jerika White, Criminal Justice Policy Manager at Empower Missouri, stated restoring voting rights is part of successful reentry.
* Denise Lieberman, Director and General Counsel of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, called for state agencies to proactively educate newly eligible citizens.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The narrative frames the restoration of voting rights not merely as a legal correction but as an essential component of social and political inclusion following incarceration. The central tension lies between recognizing the legal right to vote and addressing the structural legacy of disenfranchisement that continues to affect communities impacted by the criminal justice system. The invocation of "reentry" suggests that political participation is posited as a mechanism for reintegration, yet the article simultaneously pivots to the need for proactive institutional action—specifically advocating against exclusionary carveouts in the law and demanding education from state agencies. This creates a multi-layered demand: legal affirmation, social reconciliation, and administrative enforcement. The pattern points toward an attempt to use a policy victory (HB 1871) as a platform to enforce broader systemic change regarding how formerly incarcerated individuals are treated by the state apparatus. The implication is that rights restoration alone is insufficient; true democratic inclusion requires dismantling ongoing structural barriers.
BRIDGE QUESTIONS: If restoring the right to vote is linked to successful reentry, what other systemic barriers must be addressed for these 41,000 individuals to effectively participate politically and socially? How can the state agencies mentioned by the voter protection coalition ensure that educational outreach moves beyond simple registration logistics to address underlying societal mistrust that may impede engagement? What long-term mechanisms are needed to prevent future legislative carveouts that exclude this group from democratic life?