Voting Rights Restoration

The League of Women Voters of KY advocates for the restoration of voting rights for justice-involved Kentuckians who have a felony conviction. Kentucky is one of only 3 states that permanently bans people from voting after a felony conviction. KY’s Constitution takes the right to vote away from anyone with a felony. The only way to have the right to vote restored is to obtain a partial pardon from the governor or through an expungement of the felony. To permanently secure the voting rights of ALL justice-involved Kentuckians after completing their entire felony sentence, the Kentucky Constitution must be amended. The League of Women Voters of KY is advocating for the public to be able to voice their opinion on changing the KY Constitution by placing this issue on the ballot.

The League is KY’s leading source of comprehensive data and polling. With the assistance of The Sentencing Project, the League issued its first statewide report in October 2006 to educate the public about the need for a change in our KY Constitution. While the governor’s 2019 Executive Order restored the right to vote to Kentuckians with a nonviolent felony, many remain without the right to vote.

Kentuckians want a permanent change in our KY Constitution. Kentuckians who support the automatic restoration of voting rights upon completion of sentence has been steadily increasing. A 2006 poll by the UK Research Center reported a majority of Kentuckians support automatic voting rights restoration, with 56% approving. A survey by Mason Dixon Polling and Strategy in 2021 reveals that approval among Kentuckians has continued to increase from 66% in their 2018 poll to 67% in the most recent poll. View the 2023 Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy.

The League’s educational outreach work focuses on 1) helping persons who have been convicted of a felony be able to have their voting rights restored in accordance with Executive Order 2019-003, and 2) passage of a bill to allow Kentuckians to vote on changing the Kentucky Constitution to provide automatic restoration of voting rights.

To find out if your rights were restored by the 2019 Executive Order, go to: https://civilrightsrestoration.ky.gov

LWVKY released An Update: Felony Disenfranchisement in the Commonwealth of Kentucky

The update shows that Kentucky has made much progress since 2019 but has much, much further to go.

View Jan 28, 2021 Press Release

View Jan 28, 2021 Press Conference

View Report Summary

View Full Report