Photo from yesterday's rally in Lexington

Yesterday afternoon in Lexington 125 citizens came together for an impromptu rally to take a stand against the unjust and undemocratic redistricting plans passed by the state House and Senate and signed by Governor Beshear. These plans are vindictive against specific lawmakers and create very oddly shaped districts that unnecessarily divide coherent communities and constituencies.

For example, Lexington's Sen. Kathy Stein (a sponsor of KFTC’s Stream Saver Bill in the Senate), who has represented Lexington since 1997, will have the district she now represents moved to northern Kentucky. A western Kentucky district now represented by Sen. Dorsey Ridley – 200 miles away – will be moved to Lexington.

So we are taking this message to the steps of the state capitol in Frankfort tomorrow at 2 p.m. to hold our legislators accountable for this subversion of our democracy.

Earlier in the day at 8:30 a.m. our bill to restore voting rights to former felons (HB 70) will be voted on in committee in Capitol Annex room 171. We need as many people there as possible to show support for this legislation and to ensure that our legislators do the right thing by passing this bill. In the time between the committee hearing and the rally, we will be talking to our legislators about voting rights, redistricting and other KFTC issues.

Action

Join us at 8:30 a.m. in Capitol Annex room 171 for the committee hearing on HB 70. If you can’t make it that early, please come to the 2 p.m. rally on the front steps of the Capitol.

Take action at home

If you can’t make it out to Frankfort tomorrow, you can still make your voice heard by calling the Legislative Message Line (1-800-372-7181) today and leaving a message for members of the House Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee, asking for them to vote Yes on House Bill 70. The message line is open until 11 p.m., but try to leave a message as soon as possible today to ensure that committee members get the message in time.