Voting Rights Solidarity Actions from Lexington to New York

This weekend, an estimated 25,000 people took to the streets of New York city  to challenge a host of laws pushed in 34 states to keep people from voting.

Felony disenfranchisement laws, mandatory photo ID laws for voting, and other changes have taken the right to vote away from over 5 million people across the nation since the 2008 election.

You can learn more about the national event on Democracy Now, the Huffington Post, and The Guardian. 

In Kentucky, we've managed to hold the line on this issue and have worked hard to make our democracy stronger and deeper instead or weaker and shallower - through our campaign to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.

In solidarity with the national event, we held a rally and march in downtown Lexington in support of voting rights.  A little over thirty people made it out to the event, and several former felons took the microphone to tell their stories.

Thanks to April Browning, Tayna Fogle, Janet Tucker, Richard Mitchell and our other speakers.  

We also passed out resources to help people engage in citizen lobbying starting on January 3rd, where we'll be pushing for HB 70 - legislation that would restore voting rights to most former felons in KY after they've served their debt to society.    

Groups organizing the national demonstration included the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Urban League, Service Employees International Union Local 1199, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Locally, the groups that came together included Occupy Lexington, Steppin to a New Beat, and Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.