According to a study conducted by the Sentencing Project, there are 4.2 million Americans, either currently in prison or ex-offenders, who are not allowed to vote. Thirteen percent of black men in America -- 1.3 million in all -- are ineligible to vote, the report said. In Alabama and Florida, the total is closer to 31 percent.

"We estimate in our report that for black males born today, in the most restrictive states, 30 to 40 percent of them will lose their voting rights at some point in their life," said Mark Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, the Washington, D.C.-based organization that promotes alternative sentencing programs.

A bill to extend voting rights to ex-offenders has been stalled in committee in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than a year.

"In certain swing states, the number of folks who are disenfranchised could actually have a direct impact on the election," said Keenan Keller, minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee. "You have the situation where juveniles can lose the right to vote before they even get it."

According to the Sentencing Project, in 47 states and the District of Columbia, all convicted adults in prison lose their voting rights while they are incarcerated. In addition, 32 states deny paroled felons the right to vote, 29 states deny felons on probation the right to vote, and 13 states take away voting rights for life for ex-offenders.

Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts are the only states that allow prisoners convicted of felonies to vote. That could change in Massachusetts when voters decide in the Nov. 7 election whether to disenfranchise prisoners in the state.

Roger Clegg, general counsel for the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Equal Opportunity, said there are valid reasons why the criminal disenfranchisement law should be maintained.

"The basic point is that somebody who is not willing to follow the law should not have a role in making the laws for everyone else. That's what you're doing when you vote," said Clegg. "There has to be some sort of minimum threshold of trustworthiness or loyalty an individual must have before they have a role in running the government."

But those who support a change in the law believe that once a criminal has served their sentence, they should be free to participate in the political process. Others say the law discriminates against African Americans.

The Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's School of Law has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Florida challenging the constitutionality of the state's permanent disenfranchisement of ex-felons.

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