It’s thanks to a 2019 executive order from Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear that some Kentuckians convicted of a felony are automatically able to vote after completing their sentence and parole. But a future governor could reverse that order, thus stopping the ability for Kentuckians convicted of most nonviolent felonies from automatically regaining their voting rights.
Over the past several years, Democratic Rep. Keturah Herron of Louisville and Republican Sen. Jimmy Higdon of Lebanon have filed separate bills attempting to create a more permanent path to restoring voting rights for people convicted of certain felonies.
Higdon and Herron appeared before a legislative interim committee Tuesday to say they would once again pursue a voting rights restoration amendment. Since lawmakers can’t file legislation until the beginning of the session in January, it’s not clear what exact form the proposed amendment will take.
Higdon’s 2020 version, which successfully passed the Senate but did not make final passage through the House, would keep in place significant restrictions on who would be eligible to regain their voting rights. It would have allowed the General Assembly to declare people of certain crimes as eligible, not including those found guilty of violent crimes, sex offenses, bribery in an election, treason or crimes against a child. The person would only be eligible after completing their sentence and parole — and in some version, an additional five years after that.
“I think most people … agree on the concept,” Higdon said. “It's just what are the exceptions and how long do you have to wait after you're freed from jail? How long do you have to wait before those rights are restored?”
Herron, who shared the table with Higdon on Tuesday, has filed amendments to automatically restore voting rights for the last three years. None have received a committee hearing. Herron said she believes the amendment is necessary to ensure people convicted of a crime are able to fully reenter society — including by voting.
“It has been my belief that once someone has been convicted of a crime, they do their time and they come out, that a part of them coming out and being a citizen and then being whole, is that they should be able to vote again,” Herron said.
Higdon said he is hopeful this is the year the amendment will gain final approval from the legislature and make its way to the ballot box.
The amendment would not expunge a criminal conviction from a person’s record, nor would it give a person back all of their rights, like the right to carry a gun.
Higdon and Herron’s proposal would have to go before voters, as it suggests changing the state constitution. If a supermajority of both chambers approves the bill, it is placed on the ballot for Kentucky voters to decide.
Kentucky is one of three states whose constitution permanently disenfranchises people with past felony convictions, while allowing the governor to restore those rights, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The majority of states automatically restore voting rights either after a person is released from prison or after they complete parole and probation. Only 10 states require additional action before restoring a person’s voting rights.
GOP Sen. Greg Elkins from Winchester said he agrees that this amendment is “what we need to do.”
“If we believe that we're rehabilitating people, then this is just another step in the rehabilitation,” Elkins said Tuesday.
Shortly after his inauguration in December 2019, Beshear, a Democrat, issued an executive order to restore voting rights to most people with in-state nonviolent felony convictions. The order did not include all felonies nor did it cover those with out-of-state or federal convictions.
Previous GOP Gov. Matt Bevin had retracted his predecessor’s voting rights restoration order, which granted automatic voting rights to some people with convictions. Instead, Bevin required people with felony convictions apply to his office to have their rights individually restored, at his discretion.
Although Beshear’s order automatically restored the rights of an estimated 140,000 people, he maintained a similar application system to Bevin’s for all those who did not fall under the automatic umbrella.
Higdon said his bill will also likely change the outdated language in the state constitution that excludes “idiots and insane persons” from voting. Under his 2020 bill, people “with intellectual or developmental disabilities or serious mental illnesses who have been adjudicated as disabled and who have not retained their voting rights or had those rights restored” are excluded from voting.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
