Advocates seek restoration of Kentucky felon voting rights
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- Category: Latest News
- Published on Thursday, 24 October 2013 01:37
- Written by Sheree Krider
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Tayna Fogle, a member of the social justice group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, talks with lawmakers in Frankfort, Ky. on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013. Fogle urged lawmakers to pass an initiative when the Legislature convenes early next year to restore voting rights to convicted felons. (AP Photo/Roger Alford) / AP
FRANKFORT, KY. — Advocates pleaded with Kentucky lawmakers Tuesday for legislation that could restore voting rights to some former felons, but Republicans say support remains murky in the Senate — where similar bills have died for years.
Felons currently must petition the governor to regain voting rights under the Kentucky constitution, and Democrats are proposing changes that would allow most non-violent felons to vote once they have completed their sentence.
Advocates say Kentucky is one of only four states that permanently bars felons from casting a ballot — a practice that hits hardest on African Americans and denies former convicts a chance to fully return to civic life, they argued.
“I made a mistake, but I am not a mistake,” said Tayna Fogle, a former felon who works with Kentuckians For the Commonwealth, a left-leaning grassroots organization. “I can contribute to this community, and voting is very important to me.”
Myrna Perez, from the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, testified that more than one in five African-American adults in Kentucky cannot vote, but that studies show voting rights are related to reduced recidivism. She also noted that the proposed changes in Kentucky are still restrictive compared to the rest of the nation.
“This does not have to be a partisan issue,” she said. “We have seen great progress on this issue with Republican leadership.”
Both bills seek amendments to the constitution, which requires support in a voter referendum, and they would exempt anyone convicted of treason, intentional killing, a sex crime, or bribery. Similar measures have passed out of the Democratic-led House for the past seven years, but stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate.
In addressing a largely black audience in Louisville last month, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he will urge Republicans in the state Senate to change course.
Sen. Joe Bowen, an Owensboro Republican who chairs the Senate Committee on State Government, said he personally supports the legislation but is not sure if he will allow a committee vote in the 2014 legislative session.
“This was a first step, and I think we broke the ice in some measure by having a hearing in the interim,” he said. “We’ll see how it plays out.”
Likewise, Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said he doesn’t see overwhelming support in the Republican caucus.
Tuesday’s hearing focused mostly on supporters of felon voting rights, and Thayer argued that committee members should hear from opponents as well.
Hans von Spakovsky, a manager from the Election Law Reform Initiative and a legal fellow with the conservative Heritage Foundation, provided the only criticism, saying Kentucky’s system provides an individual review of each felon to determine if they are ready to regain voting rights.
“You don’t really know that they have changed their ways until they have been out of this for a while and you have an opportunity to see whether they have gone to work, taken care of their family, participated in civil community,” he said.
Reporter Mike Wynn can be reached at (502) 875-5136.