The Restoration of Voting Rights Campaign has encouraged the Governor’s Office since early in the Fletcher administration to ease the extraordinarily difficult process by which former felons can request a gubernatorial pardon and get their voting rights back.  The changes Fletcher implemented have included the need for applicants to write an essay, give three character references, and fill out a second application just to be considered. 

Late last week, Governor Steve Beshear took a big step forward by eliminating the requirement for the second application, the $2 processing fee, the essay, and the character references, streamlining the process considerably.

Please take a moment to contact Governor Beshear to thank him for making this important change. 

This is a big victory for KFTC members who have pushed for this for years, but falls short of our main goal – to pass HB 70 to automatically restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society. 

KFTC members say that this measure might grant hundreds or even thousands of people their voting rights back, but the next governor might close the door shut on further restorations. 

“It shouldn’t be up to this Governor or any other governor to decide,” says KFTC member Sally Evans.  “It’s a matter of fairness to give everyone their voting rights back – automatically when they’ve served their sentence.”