“People have served their time and done their probation,” he said. “I want you back in society. I want you feeling good about yourself. I want you voting, getting a job, paying taxes. I’m not giving people their gun rights back and other things like that. I’m merely allowing you to feel good about yourself again, to feel like you are a member of society.”An estimated 5.8 million people nationwide are barred from voting because of their felony record, according to The Sentencing Project, an advocacy and research organization that supports reforms to the criminal justice system. The laws, decided on a state-by-state basis, disproportionately impact the black community: One in 13 black Americans cannot vote because of such provisions, The Sentencing Project estimates.About 10% of former felony offenders impacted by the laws nationwide are believed to be women, Marc Mauer, the group’s executive director, told Refinery29 in an interview earlier this year.