HARRISBURG, Pa. — As the Nov. 5 General Election approaches, FOX43 is answering questions many Pennsylvanians have regarding voter eligibility.
One of the most common questions out there is: Are convicted felons allowed to vote in Pennsylvania?
The answer: Yes, as long as they are not currently incarcerated on felony charges and have not been convicted of violating any provision of the Pennsylvania Election Code within the last four years.
According to both Vote411.org and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Voting and Election Information website, to be eligible to vote in Pennsylvania you must be:
- A citizen of the United States for at least one month before the next election
- A resident of Pennsylvania and the district in which you register and vote for at least 30 days before the next election
- At least 18 years of age on or before the day of the next election.
A felony conviction does not make a potential voter ineligible, as long as they are not currently confined in a correctional facility for conviction of a felony and will not get released from confinement until after the next election.
This is true even if they are also incarcerated for one or more misdemeanor offenses, the state says.
Convicted felons who are living in an alternative correctional facility or halfway house can also register and vote if they have been released on parole or are on probation.
Voting rights are not restricted if a potential voter is being held on pretrial detention in a correctional facility, so long as they have not been sentenced to incarceration or are not currently serving a sentence for a felony conviction.
Note: None of this applies if someone has been convicted of a violation of the Pennsylvania Election Code within the last four years. If that's the case, they are not eligible to register to vote.