Ex-felons' voting rights restored in KY

#1
cotton

cotton

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#1
I usually stay away from the politics forum, but I thought I would take the pulse of volnation on this. It is a political hot topic in my home state.

Former Republican Governor Fletcher required that ex-felons who wanted to vote wold have to pay a fee, write an essay explaining why they should have their rights restored, and provide three recommendations. Prosecutors were also notified that application had been made and could protest.

New Democrat Gov. Beshear announced this week that any felon who has fulfilled the requirement of his sentence will have his voting rights restored effective immediately.

Any thoughts? Aside from election year politics, should people who have been convicted of a felony and served their sentence be a part of our electoral process?
 
#4
#4
how is it politics? I'm sure that the votes will be pretty evenly distributed.
 
#6
#6
cotton said:
I usually stay away from the politics forum, but I thought I would take the pulse of volnation on this. It is a political hot topic in my home state.

Former Republican Governor Fletcher required that ex-felons who wanted to vote wold have to pay a fee, write an essay explaining why they should have their rights restored, and provide three recommendations. Prosecutors were also notified that application had been made and could protest.

New Democrat Gov. Beshear announced this week that any felon who has fulfilled the requirement of his sentence will have his voting rights restored effective immediately.

Any thoughts? Aside from election year politics, should people who have been convicted of a felony and served their sentence be a part of our electoral process?
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YES!
 
#8
#8
As a person who has been convicted of a past felony I have often thought about trying to have my voting rights restored. I've just never had the money to hire council to do so on my behalf. This sounds like a good idea to me, as long as those people have paid their fines and changed their way of life.
 
#9
#9
KB5252 said:
As a person who has been convicted of a past felony I have often thought about trying to have my voting rights restored. I've just never had the money to hire council to do so on my behalf. This sounds like a good idea to me, as long as those people have paid their fines and changed their way of life.
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#11
#11
Cause Felons always make the best choices. No offense KB.

I'm thinking we allow illegal immigrants the right to vote and what the hell, let's open it up to the guys down at Gitmo.
 
#13
#13
cotton said:
KY isn't looking at anything; as I understand it, they have done it by executive order.
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I would think that the governor will still have to restore the citizenship rights of each individual, although I am not a scholar of the commonwealth's consitution. I do know that in Tennessee, the idea was that they wanted to give people who have served the maximum sentence for their crime (behind bars and/or on parole), and paid all fines and restitution, an opportunity to have their citizenship rights restored without having it be a political process like seeking clemency.
 
#14
#14
The sociological fact of this matter is simple. Voting is generally an act of responsibility. I go to the polls when they are open because I feel it is my duty to do so.

I would imagine that there would not be many "unreformed" felons who would have that inclination. In other words, generally speeking, a felon's urge to vote indicates some degree of social responsibility that was probably not present when they committed their crime.
 
#16
#16
Lexvol said:
The sociological fact of this matter is simple. Voting is generally an act of responsibility. I go to the polls when they are open because I feel it is my duty to do so.

I would imagine that there would not be many "unreformed" felons who would have that inclination. In other words, generally speeking, a felon's urge to vote indicates some degree of social responsibility that was probably not present when they committed their crime.
Click to expand...

Good point. Certainly true in my case.
 
#18
#18
tim said:
Cause Felons always make the best choices. No offense KB.

I'm thinking we allow illegal immigrants the right to vote and what the hell, let's open it up to the guys down at Gitmo.
Click to expand...

I made stupid choices when younger. I now have a wife and daughter and have joined and contribute to society. Now that I have a daughter and her future depends on the choices we make as a society now. I would like to be able to be a part of that decision making process. Her future depends on it.
 
#19
#19
KB, again no offense, but my observations are that you are the exception and not the rule. More power to ya, there needs to be some sort of process to this and not a blanket pardon so to speak. Depending on your history you may be eligible for something called 40-35-313 which is actually a Tennessee Code Anotated statute for expungemnet of your record. Not a lawyer so I'm not sure. If you're interested.
 
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