March 27, 2019 at 11:51am
Quotes from the Rally For Voting Rights from some of the people who have lost the right to vote fighting to have their voices heard
“I’m a Kentuckian, I’m a citizen of the United States. How are you going to tell me that somebody who does all that doesn’t have the right to vote? How are you going to tell me that 312,000 should be weighed by these men and women to see if they have their god given right to vote?”
— Michael Hiser (Louisville)
March 27, 2019 at 10:45am
Powerful video from our Rally for Voting Rights sharing the voices of people who have lost the right to vote.
March 13, 2019 at 09:06pm
Today's Rally for Voting Rights in Frankfort was a strong combination – THIRTY organizational cosponsors, FOURTEEN people with felonies in their past telling their stories under the capitol dome, SIX media outlets covering the event, about 175 attendees, and with all that we built a lot of momentum and awareness for our fight for Voting Rights.
March 5, 2019 at 09:14pm
Justice should heal. That's why we joined allies in Frankfort Tuesday for cut50's #DayofEmpathy.
February 26, 2019 at 09:12pm
On Monday, members of the House Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee heard a voting rights bill to restore the right to vote to people with felonies in their past who have served their debt to society.
Primary sponsor Representative George Brown was joined by Representative Charles Booker and Representative Jason Nemes as a united and bipartisan front of legislators testifying in favor of the bill.
February 24, 2019 at 08:13pm
Today, we had our first Voting Rights Coalition meeting! Twenty-six people from 19 organizations came out to get to know each other and to start to forge a path forward to win the right to vote of 312,000 Kentucky citizens with felonies in their past.
There was a lot of good will and great ideas in the room and we're now together with a shared analysis and rough path forward.
About 25 additional organizations are interested in joining the conversation or have been in conversation with us on the issue, but weren't able to make it out to this meeting. It's a solid start.
February 19, 2019 at 09:13pm
Today nearly 100 KFTC members and close allies gathered in Frankfort to talk to legislators about restoring voting rights to people with felonies in their past and push for a constitutional amendment that would recognize the right to vote of 312,000 Kentuckians who can't vote now because of our felony disenfranchisement law that is out of step with the rest of the United States. Dozens of the people who came out talked about the issue from first hand experience, having the right to vote in Kentucky taken away from them.
We had meetings with over 30 legislators and built up support for the issue with Democrats and Republicans alike, including many legislators who just got elected for the first time this last November. The vast majority of senators and representatives we talked to said they were in favor of restoring voting rights.
January 30, 2019 at 06:39pm
It's been an energetic last few weeks re-igniting the KFTC Voting Rights campaign to restore voting rights to people with felonies in their past.
January 18, 2019 at 01:51pm
KFTC's primary strategy for restoring voting rights to Kentuckians with felonies in their past is to change Kentucky's Constitution to permanently grant the right to vote to all 312,000 Kentuckians who don't have the right to vote now. KFTC's Voting Rights Strategy Team, made up of directly effected people and other members from all over the state, decided additionally get involved in a lawsuit arguing that the current system is arbitrary and unconstitutional.
Our most immediate task is to find people who have lost their right to vote to join our list of plaintiffs for the case.
If you do not have the right to vote because of felony disenfranchisement in Kentucky and you're off of probation and parole, and you'd like to join the lawuit as a plaintiff, please reach out to Dave Newton as soon as possible at Dave@kftc.org or 859-420-8919. Our deadline to reach out to people to add them is Friday, January 25.
Below is the press release sent out by our allies about the case.
January 18, 2019 at 10:44am
Ther Northern Kentucky chapter is celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend by working with allies to share his story and message, and to be standing alongside others in the community who carry on his work and legacy.
