vote can be regained in theory, but in practice this possibility is often granted in a non-uniform and potentially discriminatory manner. Disenfranchised individuals sometimes must either obtain a pardon or an order from the Governor or an action by the parole or pardon board, depending on the offense and State. Financial restrictions may also inhibit individuals who have completed their sentences from re-enfranchisement. Individuals convicted of a Federal offense often have additional barriers to regaining voting rights. (9) Many felony disenfranchisement laws today derive directly from post-Civil War efforts to stifle the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Between 1865 and 1880, at least 14 States—Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas—enacted or expanded their felony disenfranchisement laws. One of the primary goals of these laws was to prevent African Americans from voting. Of the States that enacted or expanded their felony disenfranchisement laws during this post-Civil War period, at least 11 continue to preclude persons on felony probation or parole from voting. (10) State disenfranchisement laws disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities. In recent years, African Americans have been imprisoned at over 5 times the rate of Whites. More than 6 percent of the voting-age African-American population, or 1,800,000 African Americans, are disenfranchised due to a felony conviction. In 9 States—Alabama (16 percent), Arizona (13 percent), Florida (15 percent), Kentucky (15 percent), Mississippi (16 percent), South Dakota (14 percent), Tennessee (21 percent), Virginia (16 percent), and Wyoming (36 percent)—more than 1 in 8 African Americans are unable to vote because of a felony conviction, twice the national average for African Americans. (11) Latino citizens are also disproportionately disenfranchised based upon their disproportionate representation in the criminal justice system.