Four years ago, Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear signed an executive order restoring the voting rights of tens of thousands of ex-felons, excluding those who had been convicted of violent or sex crimes, treason, or bribery. It marked a dramatic change in Kentucky’s strict law disenfranchising ex-felons for life except in rare cases when a reprieve was granted. At the time three other states had similarly strict laws. In Kentucky, the ban meant nearly 1 of 10 Kentuckians were disenfranchised, including about a quarter of the state’s African American population.
Beshear said in a press release at the time: “The right to vote is one of the most intrinsically American privileges, and thousands of Kentuckians are living, working and paying taxes in the state but are denied this basic right. Once an individual has served his or her time and paid all restitution, society expects them to reintegrate into their communities and become law-abiding and productive citizens. A key part of that transition is the right to vote.”
But that project barely got off the ground because Republican Matt Bevin beat Democrat Jack Conway for the governorship that year and soon reversed the order. Consequently, as before, restoration of voting rights was made “with the governor’s unfettered discretion,” according to a lawsuit filed this year by the Fair Elections Center and the Kentucky Equal Justice Center.
On Thursday, his third day of office after beating Bevin at the polls in November and taking the oath of office on Tuesday, Andy Beshear, the former governor’s 42-year-old son, issued his own executive order restoring voting rights to ex-felons, with the same exclusions against those convicted of violent crimes or sex offenses as the 2015 order. The Sentencing Project estimated in 2016 that Kentucky was keeping some 300,000 people from voting. The new order is expected to benefit 140,000 ex-felons.
At a press gathering announcing the move, young Beshear, who had served as the state’s attorney general, affirmed that he believes in prosecuting wrongdoers. But he added: “I also believe in redemption, in second chances. ... My faith teaches me forgiveness. I believe we have a moral responsibility to protect and extend the right to vote, and to say to so many who have paid their debt that we welcome them as full members of society again.”
Beshear noted that voting rights will be restored to ex-felons even if they haven’t yet paid fees or fines. In Florida, Republicans have moved to undermine the state’s referendum restoring voting rights there by adding a provision that requires fees and fines to be paid off before they regain the right to cast a ballot and hold public office. To reporters, Beshear said: “There are other ways to make sure that that money is paid. We don’t want to hold back voting rights just because someone doesn’t have the same bank account as somebody else.”
The job now, according to Beshear, is to “make sure that anyone can walk into any of the election officials’ offices and be able to register right then, right there. Now that’s going to take a little bit of time, and we ask people to bear with us.”
The executive order, of course, can be reversed just as the previous one was. That’s why activists are eager to make the change part of Kentucky’s constitution. But a move in that direction approved by the Kentucky House of Representatives has been blocked by the state Senate.
The immediate goal is to make restoration effective. That, said Rev. L. Clark Williams, who chairs The People’s Campaign Community Network, is to get those affected registered to vote.