Restoring a Right

Amendment would make it easier for felons to again vote.

Ashland Daily Independent Editorial

A proposal to allow casino-style gambling in Kentucky is not the only constitutional amendment that will be debated by the 2008 Kentucky General Assembly. But if the chances of placing the gambling amendment on the November ballot are uncertain, the odds of the amendment being proposed by Rep. Daryl Owens, D-Louisville, and Rep. Jesse Crenshaw, D-Lexington, being placed on the ballot are even longer.

That’s because few politicians are willing to speak out on behalf of convicted felons who cannot even vote. Restoring the right to vote for felons who have served their sentences is exactly what the amendment proposed by Owens and Crenshaw would do. Kentucky is one of only two states — with Virginia being the other — that do not automatically restore the voting rights of most criminals who have served their time and not been charged with or convicted of new crimes.

While Owens recognizes that his amendment will take a back seat to the expanded gambling amendment, he sees no reason why both amendments cannot be on the November ballot. He said both the House and the Senate can propose two constitutional amendments.

 Read the complete Editorial in the Ashland Daily Independent here