One step closer to Democracy

Carl Matthews of Louisville was one of 186,000 disenfranchised voters in the state of Kentucky - people who can't vote because of something they did wrong in their past.  He was convicted of a felony and he served his time... but he couldn't vote because Kentucky is one of only two states that require former felons to get a "partial pardon" from the Governor to allow them to vote again. 

All of that changed at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon when Carl opened a letter from Steve Beshear letting him know that he'd gotten his right to vote restored.

"I couldn't believe it," Carl said.  "When I saw that gold seal and letter from the governor saying I could vote, I was just so happy."

Carl had been familiar with Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and our Restoration campaign for a while now, and met some of our members at PAR's Recovery Rally in Louisville last year. 

He'd learned about the restoration process long ago, but didn't apply until April of this year after learning about how the process had been streamlined by Beshear. 

I read about KFTC online and learned a lot about Restoration from your website.  I downloaded the application to get my rights back and sent it in.  it took a few months, but it worked."

Carl got his rights back just a few hours before attending the KFTC Voter Empowerment Training in Louisville this weekend and shared the news with everyone there.  He got to register to vote with us and is committed to sharing his story, lobbying with us on Restoration, and working to get more people involved. 

We have to reach more former felons and get them involved too," says Carl.  Volunteering is important - and it makes a difference when you have someone to talk to about stuff like this.  It helps with recovery and with becoming a part of our communities again."