FRANKFORT, Ky. — Dozens rallied at the state Capitol to support adding a constitutional amendment allowing some felons to vote. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Kentucky Voting Rights Council wants lawmakers to allow voters to decide if ex-offenders should have their voting rights restored 

  • The state Capitol rotunda in Frankfort was filled with people and signs reading “give it back”

  • Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., signed an executive order in 2019 that restored rights to some former offenders

  • Felons who served their sentence and looking to have their rights restored may petition the governor 

Several dozen supporters of voting rights for former felons, along with the Kentucky Voting Rights Council, said it's time to "give it back." 

Tip Moody once lost his right to vote by Kentucky law but has since had his access to ballot boxes restored. 

“Voting rights restoration is not one of race, it’s not one of gender, it’s not a socioeconomic class — it affects all of us across the commonwealth,” Moody said. 

Along with others, he’s advocating with the group to help those who may be unaware of their voting status. 

“We also go out into our communities to talk to allies and friends and neighbors to educate them on an issue that many people are unaware of,” Moody said.

Other rally attendees said just one conviction led to them being disenfranchised. 

In 2019, Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., signed an executive order that restored rights to some former offenders who had completed their full sentence, probation and parole and with non-violent convictions.

However, the group said there’s still a long way to go to reach nearly 162,000 others hoping to contribute to future elections, as Kentucky is one of several states restricting voting rights permanently for some felons. 

Kentuckians can learn whether they’re eligible to vote at a Civil Rights Restored website.

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