Restore your right to vote | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Restore your right to vote

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We won a major victory in 2019 when Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order restoring the right to vote to an estimated 200,000 people with felonies in their past.

Our allies at the Campaign Legal Center put together a great tool at www.Restoreyourvote.org to help people figure out whether Andy Beshear's Executive Order applies to them.


It asks a series of questions to determine if someone can register to vote, and if so, connects you with an online voter registration portal. For people excluded from the executive order but who have served their time, there's still the option of requesting voting rights through an individual partial pardon from the Governor.


Exclusions in the executive order are:

  • Any Capital offense;
  • Any Class A felony;
  • Any Class B felony involving death of the victim or serious physical injury to a victim;
  • Any Class B felony involving attempted murder if the victim of the offense is a clearly identifiable peace officer or firefighter acting in the line of duty, regardless of whether an injury results (KRS 506.010);
  • Any Felony Sexual Offense (KRS 510);
  • Any attempted felony sexual offense (KRS Chapter 510);
  • Assault 1st or 2nd (KRS 508.020)
  • Assault under extreme emotional disturbance (KRS 508.040(a));
  • Bribery in an election (KRS 521);
  • Burglary 1st accompanied by commission or attempted commission of an assault described in KRS 508.010, 508.020, 508.032, or 508.060;
  • Burglary 1st accompanied by commission or attempted commission of kidnapping (KRS 509.040);
  • Criminal abuse 1st (KRS 508.100);
  • Fetal Homicide 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th (KRS 507A)
  • Human Trafficking (KRS 529.100);
  • Manslaughter 1st or 2nd (KRS 507.030-.040);
  • Murder (KRS 507.020);
  • Promoting a sexual performance by a minor (KRS 531.320);
  • Unlawful transaction with a minor 1st (KRS 530.064(1)(a));
  • Use of a minor in a sexual performance (KRS 531.310);
  • Reckless Homicide (KRS 507.050);
  • Robbery 1st (KRS 515.020);
  • Strangulation 1st (KRS 508.170)
  • Treason
 
After you've determined that the executive order applies to you, you can simpy register to vote by going to your local County Clerk's office, filling out a card, or visiting GoVoteKY.com.
 
In addition, you do not yet have your right to vote back if you’re still on probation or parole, if you have any pending felony charges or arrests against you, or if your felony was an out of state or federal felony.   
 
That's a lot of exclusions, which can make trying to register voters with felonies in their past a lot harder, but it's important that we navigate it as best as we can.  At KFTC, we believe that every adult deserves the right to vote, which is why we're fighting for HB 6, a proposed constitutional amendment that's much simpler and much more permanent - to restore voting rights to everyone once they've completed their sentence.
 
Even if your right to vote was not restored through this executive action, you can still individually petition the Governor to get your right to vote back.  Click here to download and print the application.
 
Watch for more resources and workshops in the coming weeks to equip people to register voters who just got their right to vote back.
Issue Area(s): 
Voting Rights