Posted by: Dave Newton on October 16, 2012
With voter registration drives in our 13 chapters across the state, Kentuckians For The Commonwealth has worked hard leading up to the Oct 9th voter registration deadline. We’ve held voter registration events in chapters across the state – from our very newest chapter in Danville registering 68 voters over a 3-day period – to the Jefferson chapter that brought in close to 1,400.
We tabled at dozens of community festivals and events in eastern and northern Kentucky, ran many door-to-door canvases in low-income communities, held a few heavy-hitting campus registration drives at EKU, WKU, UofL and UK, and in general did a great job of getting out and reaching people in communities that need to be heard louder in our democracy. Leading up to the deadline, we even held 36- and 48-hour-straight voter registration marathons in Lexington and Louisville, respectively!
In all, hundreds of volunteers managed to register 4,814 voters total – and also spread a lot of key information to get other ready and motivated to vote.
But our work doesn’t stop with voter registration...
Posted by: Dave Newton on October 15, 2012
Posted by: Rosanne Fitts Klarer on October 15, 2012
We seek conscientious artists and craft folks who want to stand up for social justice in Kentucky by contributing their work for our friend- and fund-raiser: the Scott County Chapter of KFTC'S Third Annual Arty Pie Party on November 17th at 7:30 p.m.
We warmly invite you to attend and hear what we're up to. Plus we have a blast with great live gypsy music, delicious pies and spirited conversations. KFTC gives voice to thousands around the state who join together in order to improve our lives.
Posted by: Dave Newton on October 15, 2012
We've held nine Singing For Democracy Gospel Fests over the last few years to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their time.
Posted by: Ondine Quinn, CKY Organizer on October 8, 2012
You may have seen in the Herald Leader last week that groups all over town were focusing on registering as many voters as possible before the deadline this coming Tuesday October 9th. The central Kentucky chapter held a 36 hour voter registration marathon in Lexington over the weekend. Starting on Friday October 5th at 6am and going until 6pm on Saturday October 6th, volunteers registered people to vote at the transit center, on UK campus, the Catholic Action center, the William Wells Brown community center, local bars, Tolly Ho, Spaulding Donuts, Race for the Cure, The farmers market, N. Limeston coffee and donuts, the Village Branch library and door to door around the Lexington rescue mission in the Georgetown St. area.
Posted by: Linda Stettenbenz on October 8, 2012
The Jefferson County KFTC Chapter had two very successful days of voter registration at University of Louisville, thanks to the organizing efforts of KFTC members Emily Nordling, Elijah McKenzie, and Tim Darst. Emily is a recent U of L graduate and arranged sponsorship for us with the Honors Society, one of the student organizations she has been active with. Elijah is a current U of L student and Bonner Scholar who reached out to Tim, a member and officer of GRASS, an organization of students working to foster environmental sustainability and awareness on campus. GRASS sponsored a second appearance by our members to register voters on campus.
On September 27, our table sponsored by the Honors Society registered 97 voters, with a good deal of help from Honors Society volunteer Taryn Cantrell. She says of her experience with us, “It was an amazing experience to register over 100 students, knowing that I made an impact. Though I did not know much about KFTC before volunteering, I am very glad I got the opportunity to be acquainted because many of its issues and concerns deal with my hometown of Pikeville. I love my hometown and hope to return there someday to give back to the place that has given so generously to me. ”
Posted by: Dave Newton on October 8, 2012
Voter registration cards must be turned into the correct County Clerk's office by the end of business hours on Tuesday, Oct 9th, or postmarked and mailed to either the correct County Clerk or the State Board of Elections on the same date.
Today is Columbus Day, so the post offices are closed. Some County Clerk's offices are remaining open today, though, so take advantage of that.
If you've engaged in any work to get your friends and neighbors registered, make sure those cards are turned in.
Posted by: Dave Newton on October 6, 2012
Members of the Scott County Chapter of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth were out today at the Festival of the Horse in Georgetown canvassing the crowds and registering more people just days before the Oct 9th deadline.
We only registered about a dozen voters, but at least twice that many people stopped ut to ask questions about what candidates will be on the ballot, how to cast an absenttee ballot, or about some other election-related question. Others remembered our Scott County Voter Guide from the primary election and let us know that they're looking forward to receiving one for the General Election.
Posted by: Dave Newton on October 6, 2012
Yesterday at 6:00 a.m., Central KY KFTC members were awake and out at the Lexington Transit Center to kick off the 36-hour-straight Voter Madness voter registration marathon.
The 48-hour-straight Louisville voter registration marathon started a bit later that day and is about half-way though now.
Watch for blog updates early in the week to see how things went.
Remember - the voter registration deadline is on Tuesday, October 9th.
Posted by: Jennifer Jeffers on October 6, 2012
Last week was our biggest yet in Jefferson County. Thanks to our dedicated members who volunteered, we registered 240 voters! Over a hundred of those registrations came from hitting up grocery stores in the south and west ends of Louisville. As shoppers packed food out, we packed democracy in.
Electoral organizer Beth Bissmeyer shared this story of success not only in numbers, but in spirit:
“Last Tuesday proved to be another good night to go Krogering in Shively; in just a few hours, 28 people registered to vote and several people signed our petition in support of restoring voting rights. For me, the highlight of the evening was a conversation I had with a young woman. When I asked her if she was registered, she said she didn't vote because government doesn't do anything good. We got to talking about issues she cares about including the homeless population, and I told her she could hold her Metro Council representative accountable for local issues, that these people are often at community events and live in the neighborhood. 'I didn't know that I could do that,' she said. You could see that a light bulb just turned on. She started to fill out a registration card and while doing that, she told me about the difficulties her brothers have faced as former felons and how having just a misdemeanor on her file has made finding a good job difficult. I then told her about our work around voting rights and gave her restoration applications for her brothers. While not everyone who tells you they don't vote will experience this kind of turnaround, it's worth a little bit of prodding for the ones who do.”
