Voting Rights Restoration
There are more than 100,000 Kentuckians who are not eligible to vote because they have a felony conviction on their record. Section 145 of the Kentucky Constitution states that a person convicted of a felony is not entitled to vote, though felons may have their civil rights restored if they receive an executive pardon from the governor.
Working with a broad coalition of groups, KFTC members in recent years have helped create public awareness of this issue and now are urging legislators to put the question on the ballot. In the 2006 General Assembly, Rep. Jesse Crenshaw and 17 cosponsors filed House Bill 480, a bill to allow Kentuckians to decide if they want to change the Kentucky Constitution to provide automatic restoration of the right to vote for those who have completed their sentence. Sen. Gerald Neal filed companion legislation, Senate Bill 251, in the Senate. KFTC believes that restoring the right to vote to all former felons upon completion of their sentence will strengthen our democracy.
House Bill 480
KFTC's position: FOR
Summary | Rep. Jesse Crenshaw and 17 cosponsors proposed a constitutional amendment that would restore voting rights to felons upon "expiration of probation or final discharge from parole or maximum expiration of sentence." If this bill had passed, Kentucky voters would have been asked whether to approve the constitutional amendment. Senate Bill 251 was companion legislation filed by Sen. Gerald Neal in the Senate. | |
History | HB 480 never made it past the House Elections & Constitutional Amendments Committee, chaired by Rep. Adrian Arnold, a cosponsor of the bill. Rep. Arnold indicated he would hold a hearing if House leaders supported one. However, House leaders decided they did not want to consider any constitutional amendments in the 2005 session. SB 251 was assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where chair Sen. Robert Stivers showed no interest in a hearing. | |
Action | Contact members of the House Elections & Constitutional Amendments Committee during the legislative interim and encourage them to vote SUPPORT restoration of voting rights for former felons. | |
| HB 480 co-sponsors: HB 480 co-sponsors: Reps. Jesse Crenshaw, Kathy Stein, Darryl Owens, Adrian Arnold, Sheldon Baugh, Carolyn Belcher, Tom Burch, Derrick Graham, Keith Hall, Jimmy Higdon, Dennis Horlander, Mary Lou Marzian, Reginald Meeks, Harry Moberly, Fred Nesler, Jim Wayne, Robin Webb, Susan Westrom, Rob Wilkey. | ||