Governor's race could decide whether 100K+ Kentuckians regain the right to vote

AN ESTIMATED 312,000 KENTUCKIANS CAN'T VOTE BECAUSE OF A FELONY CONVICTION. THAT COULD CHANGE AFTER THE STATE'S GUBERNATORIAL ELECTION ON NOV. 5.

An estimated 312,000 Kentuckians — 9% of the population — can't vote because of a felony conviction. That's the third-highest rate in the country, according to a 2016 report from the Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy group that studies incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

More than 240,000 of those disenfranchised Kentuckians — 78% — have completed their sentences, the report notes.

Even more stark: One in four black people in Kentucky can’t vote because of a felony conviction — the highest rate in the nation, according to the Sentencing Project report.