Voter Empowerment
Clarifying who can vote and who can't in Kentucky
To register and vote in Kentucky, one needs to be at least 18 years old by Election Day (Tuesday, November 6), you have to live in Kentucky (temporary student housing works), and you have to be a U.S. citizen.
Those are the basics, but things get a little trickier in Kentucky because our criminal justice system plays an unusual role in taking away people's right to vote.
People with felonies in their past – Can't (generally) Vote.
Kentucky disenfranchises people with felonies in their past and is harsher than almost any state in the US in that regard. People can request their rights be restored after they've served their time through this form, but few people know about the process and Governor Bevin denies many requests. People who have had their record expunged of felonies can also vote. KFTC's long-term goal is to change Kentucky's Constitution so that people get the right to vote back when they've served their debt to society including prison time, probation, and parole, but for now, this remains a barrier for over 312,000 Kentuckians.
People with misdemeanors in their past – Can Vote!
If someone has a misdemeanor in ther past, that doesn't stop them from voting in Kentucky. Many people in this situation may have been told that they can't register and vote, but they absolutely can
People currently in jail serving for a misdemeanor – Can't Vote
This disenfranchisement comes from section 145 of the Kentucky Constitution along with felony disenfranchisement.
People serving probation and parole for a misdemeanor – Can Vote!
Even though you're still serving your time, there's nothing stopping you from registering and voting in this case.
People in jails pre-trial who were charged with either a felony or a misdemeanor – Can Vote!
If you're in jail because you're awaiting trial or sentencing for any offense (and you've never been convicted of a felony), you do have the right to vote. That's a big deal, because in many Kentucky jails about 70% of the population is pre-trial.
Northern Kentucky plans Hispanic Heritage Month activities
The northern Kentucky KFTC chapter plans to particpate in several upcoming events to help celebrate this year's Hispanic Heritage Month. The Hispanic Heritage Month is from September 15 through October 15, and serves as an excellent opportunity to celebrate Latino heritage and the growing Latinx community in northern Kentucky.
To celebrate this work, the local chapter will be tabling at the Cristo Rey Parish festival in Florence. Cristo Rey is a Catholic parish in Florence, and focuses on the need for the local Latinx community. KFTC members will be on hand to register voters, hear what issues local communities are facing, and look for opportunities to work together with allies.
Voter Registration Deadline is October 9. How can you help?
Today is exactly 4 weeks until the October 9 Kentucky Voter Registration Deadline. What are YOU doing to register voters and make sure people you know are all set to vote?
If you're not registered, or need to update your voter address, get down to your local County Clerk's office or register online - http://www.govoteky.com
If you want to check your voter registration status just to be safe, visit the Voter Information Center - https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/vic/
Note that students who are away from home going to school have the right to either use a permanent home address or temporary local address as their voting address, but I encourage students to consider registering locally especially if home is far away (Election Day is a school day).
Note also that 17 year-olds can register to vote now if they will by 18 on or before November 6, 2018.
If you'd like to volunteer to register voters, please contact your local KFTC organizer to volunteer or to suggest an event to register voters.
If you're outside of the area where a chapter is working, you can set up a voter registration drive of your own by reaching out to KFTC for training and materials. Tom Herrick and Laura Lee Cundiff (pictured below) recently put together a voter registration drive in Versailles, for example. If you'd like to volunteer to set up your own voter registration event, please reach out to Dave Newton, Democracy Organizer at 859-420-8919 or [email protected].
Another way to get involved is to sign up for our Voter Engagement 101 Volunteer Training Online, with the next one on September 18. You'll learn how to register voters and why this is such a critical moment for voter empowerment work.
Voting Rights work in Louisville over the weekend
KFTC's members attended today's Rally for Recovery in Louisville, hosted by PAR (People Advocating Recovery). It's an annual event organized by people in long term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, their families, and friends with the goal of building community and reducing the negative perceptions associated with addiction recovery. It has been PAR's experience that the road to recovery is filled with obstacles that hinder reintegration into society and one of those obstacles is felony disenfranchisement. Kentucky is one of just a handful of states where if someone is convicted of a felony, even something not serious enough to warrant one day in jail in some cases, they lose the right to vote for the rest of their lives unless given the right to vote back by a governor's pardon.
That's not right. We think that all people should be allowed to vote and at the least, former felons ought to be given the right to vote back after they've served their debty to society.
KFTC members were on hand at today's event to help people who could to register to vote and we circulated petitions to lawmakers to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society.
In all, we got nearly 300 petition signatures and several voter registrations, plus we connected with several key ally organizations and former felons who are willing to tell their stories to move this issue forward.
Rally for Recovery
KFTC will register voters and circulate a petition for restoration of voting rights for former felons at this ally event.
https://www.facebook.com/events/659963797692734/
Hosted by PAR-People Advocating Recovery
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