Voting Rights in the News

There have been a number of stories in recent days about voting rights for former felons.  Here are links to a few:

Restoring Voting Rights After Felony Convictions - Courier Journal.  By Kate Miller of the Kentucky ACLU

Since 2007 a few Republicans in Senate leadership have single handedly blocked House Bill 70, the Restoration of Voting Rights Act. HB 70 would put on the ballot an initiative to automatically restore the right to vote to former felons who have completed their full sentences. Currently Kentuckians with any type of felony conviction are permanently prohibited from voting. This sweeping policy excludes everyone, people like Jason Smith, 32, from Elizabethtown who...

For the full Courier Journal op-Ed, click here

Who Gets To Vote? - New York Times  By Erika L. Wood of New York Law School

Next November more than 5 million Americans will not be allowed to vote because of a criminal conviction in their past. Nearly 4 million of these people are not in prison, yet they remain disenfranchised for years, often for decades and sometimes for life. 

States vary widely on when they restore voting rights after a conviction. Maine and Vermont do not disenfranchise people with convictions; even prisoners may vote there. People with felony convictions in Florida, Iowa, Kentucky and Virginia are disenfranchised for life, unless they are granted clemency by the governor. The rest of the country falls somewhere in between...

For the full New York Times story, click here

A large number of KFTC members also wrote letters to the editor leading up to yesterday's election.  A few each appeared in the Nov 4th and Nov 5th Herald Leader issues, respectively.