We can all agree that people who have done their time should be able to vote in Ky.

This year, our country’s debate on how Americans vote was thrust into the national spotlight. Between a historic global pandemic and a hotly contested election, all eyes have been on our elections systems.

Kentucky took these challenges in stride and facilitated a strong and secure election against incredible odds.

As an Army veteran, I was especially proud to be a Kentuckian. I served to protect the United States and the values of democracy on which we were founded, especially the fundamental right to vote.

There’s one big move that Kentucky made this election that got a lot less attention. Thousands of Kentuckians with past convictions who had completed their sentence were able to vote for the first time. Thanks to an executive order that Governor Andy Beshear issued in 2019, they were able to fully participate in our democracy because they’d had their right to vote restored.

But this executive order is only temporary and (per the League of Women Voters) still excludes nearly 200,000 Kentuckians with felony convictions from voting.

As a veteran I selfishly have to ask: How many disenfranchised voters are veterans? Should not veterans who have fought to protect our democracy also have the right to participate in our democracy?

Veterans deserve to have their right to vote protected.

Further, in honor of the sacrifice of our veterans, past and present, should not all taxpaying Americans have their right to vote protected? The first veterans of our country fought to defeat the tyrannical oppression of colonialism in part because they believed “no taxation without representation” was wrong. With every deployment our military service members put their lives on the line to protect that democratic ideal.

The governor’s executive order was important, but it’s only temporary. It could easily be rescinded when the next governor takes office, as former Gov. Bevin did in 2015.

Something this important shouldn’t be subject to the whims of one politician.

That’s why Republican legislator Jason Nemes has been leading the charge to change Kentucky’s state constitution to establish a concrete process for the restoration of voting rights. His bill, HB 232, would restore voting eligibility to individuals who have completed their sentences.

It’s been easy this year to politicize elections and draw sharp partisan lines around who can vote and how they cast their ballot, but the issue of voting restoration is something that both sides of the aisle can agree on. Voting restoration for people who have completed their prison sentence has strong bipartisan support from voters, elected officials, and citizen-led coalitions. It’s something U.S. Senator Rand Paul has supported as well; and neighboring states such as Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas and Missouri already have laws on the books that restore voting eligibility.

It’s time for Kentucky to catch up. There are a lot of pressing issues this year, but restoring voting eligibility shouldn’t be lost in the shuffle. It is time for our legislature to pass HB 232 to ensure that our most fundamental rights are not dependent on the goodwill of one individual. All Kentucky citizens deserve the chance to weigh in on the issues that matter to them, and they can’t wait for a more convenient time to be full members of our community.

Michelle Rogers is a military veteran who deployed with the U.S. Army’s 18th Airborne Corps in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. She is a member of the national grassroots Veterans organization Common Defense and a resident of Louisville.