District of Columbia sends 2,400 incarcerated residents voter registration forms

The District of Columbia Board of Elections has sent voter-registration forms to roughly 2,400 incarcerated felons for the November elections, implementing a new municipal law that allows individuals with a felony record to vote. 

The voter-registration forms have been sent to incarcerated D.C. residents at 107 separate federal facilities across the U.S., allowing them to vote by absentee ballot this November. The district in July restored voting rights to people serving time for felony convictions.

Maine and Vermont have similar measures.

A D.C. election board official said Wednesday that the agency is working with the Federal Bureau of Prisons to ensure registration forms can be returned fast enough for the inmates to vote. 

In Iowa, most residents with felony records can vote, but only after they have completed their time, following an executive order signed last month by GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds. Florida courts are considering a similar plan.