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Convicted Felon, Misdemeanant or Pretrial Detainee

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled on December 26, 2000 that the Pennsylvania law prohibiting convicted felons from registering to vote for five years after their release from prison is unconstitutional.  Consequently, if completing an older version of the Voter Registration Mail Application (VRMA) form, a convicted felon who has been released from prison may make application to register to vote by striking through the felony conviction line at Section 9(2) on the VRMA and signing his or her name.

Convicted felons who are incarcerated on the date of a primary or general election are not eligible to vote, regardless of whether they are registered.  However, pre-trial detainees and misdemeanants are eligible to register to vote and/or to vote by absentee ballot if they otherwise qualify to vote under law.