End draconian rules against ex-felon voting

My heart always swells near an Election Day. I think of my ancestors and others who fought and literally gave their lives in some cases for me, an African-American woman, to have the right to vote.

Election 2018 is going to be even more special because I’m going to be spending it with a colleague and friend who will be voting for the first time since her rights were restored.

Kentucky has one of the harshest disenfranchisement laws in our country, permanently barring all individuals with past felony convictions from voting, unless the governor restores the right to vote. The result of this draconian law means one out of every 11 Kentuckians is ineligible to vote due to a prior felony conviction (that’s three times the national average).

And, devastatingly, Kentucky has the highest African-American disenfranchisement rate in the country with about one out of every four or 26.2 percent of black Kentuckians ineligible to vote. I’m talking about a population of Kentuckians who made a mistake, served their sentences, paid their fines and fees and are still forced to jump through hoops to maybe get their rights restored.

Whenever I share these shocking statistics some respond by saying, “Well, they shouldn’t have broken the law,” or “It’s not really permanent. People can get their rights back if they want to.”

When people say these things I wonder if they truly understand the power of the vote, a cornerstone of our democracy. I also wonder if they understand the process one has to go through to get the right restored.

It took years for my colleague, Amanda Hall, to get her rights restored. Amanda completed a Restoration of Civil Rights Form (available online or in person via the Department of Corrections) and had to get help to fill it out. Others have to request a sometimes costly, background check in order to fill the form out accurately.

After completing the form, it was reviewed by the Department of Corrections then sent on to the Governor’s Office. There is no timeline or requirement for review of a petitioner’s application. At last check with the League of Women Voters, there were nearly 800 submitted applications pending Gov. Matt Bevin’s review.

If the governor reviews and approves the application, a Restoration of Civil Rights form is signed and sent to the Office of the Secretary of State. Once reviewed there, it is sent back to the Department of Corrections to be entered in its database. For Amanda, this part of the process took months and she missed the opportunity to vote in the primary election because her forms were still being processed.

At the end of this bureaucratic journey, a final letter is generated and the petitioner has to mail or deliver it to their county clerk’s office. After completing this long and difficult path, Amanda can vote Nov. 6.

On that same day, Floridians will vote on an amendment which would automatically restore voting rights to most people with felony convictions once they complete their sentences. If it is successful, more than 1 million disenfranchised Floridians will become eligible to vote and Kentucky will be just one of three states with harsh, permanent disenfranchisement laws in place.

My hero, U.S. Congressman John Lewis, summed up my feelings about voting in a recent tweet. He wrote, “I have been beaten, my skull fractured, and arrested more than forty times so that each and every person has the right to register and vote. Friends of (mine) gave their lives. Do your part. Get out there and vote like you’ve never voted before.”

I’ve researched the candidates and have a plan for getting to the polls. I hope you do as well. I look forward to being with Amanda as she casts her ballot and we’ll both be thinking about the hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians who will, hopefully, one day be able to do the same.