A bill that would automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons upon completion of their sentence and making full restitution had its first hearing before a legislative committee on Monday.
The bill’s main sponsor, Rep. George Brown, Jr., D-Lexington, was joined by two of his five co-sponsors, Reps. Charles Booker, D-Louisville and Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, in presenting the bill before the House Judiciary Committee.
“Kentucky is one of three states that don’t automatically restore voting rights, along with Iowa and Virginia,” Brown said.
“We know this is breaking the backs of a lot of good, amazing, brilliant people,” Booker testified. “On the campaign trail I would talk to folks and they would say, ‘Charles, I like you, we want to get behind you, we believe our community can get better. But I don’t think things will change, because I can’t even vote. I made a mistake before you were born and I’ve been trying to take care of my family, but I can’t even be heard.’”
Nemes told the committee he sees bipartisan approval for the measure.
“I’ve talked to a lot of Republicans our caucus, especially the freshman and sophomore classes, and there is significant support for this bill on my side of the aisle,” he said. “We need to make full citizens of folks once they have paid their debt to society.”
Also appearing before the committee was Bonnie Lynch, Kentucky President of the League of Women Voters.
She testified the League has been working on the issue since 2005, because of the number of Kentuckians who have been disenfranchised. “One out of 11 Kentuckians, or 312,000 people cannot vote. That is more than three times the national average.”
In addition, she said, “Twenty-six percent or one out of four African Americans of voting age in Kentucky cannot vote, which is the highest rate in the country.”
Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Bratcher, R-Louisville, said, “This bill has passed this House committee many, many times. But we have a big freshman and sophomore class that has not been introduced to this issue.”
In fact, the House passed voting rights legislation 10 years, 2007-2016 by large bipartisan margins. However, the bill has not been brought up the past two years. Approval by Florida voters of a similar measure Last November has renewed interest.
No vote was taken on the legislation, which is in the form of a Constitutional Amendment that would appear on the November 2020 ballot, if it clears both the House and Senate.
Two similar measures have been introduced in the Kentucky Senate, one by a Democrat and one by a Republican.
By Tom Latek, Kentucky Today
