LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Lawmakers took the first step Friday in a long process that would give voting rights back to more than 300,000 convicted felons.
Kentucky lawmakers introduced a bill that could bring more voters to the polls. Filed by Louisville state Rep. Charles Booker and Lexington Rep. George Brow, the bill would automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons who have completed their sentence.
"We will continue to fight so that everyone has the right to exercise their most important fundamental right, and that is the right to vote," Rep. Derrick Graham said. "No one should be penalized once they have paid the price for the crimes that they've committed and they served their time and are now productive members of society."
Greg Duncan, a convicted felon who has a job, stays out of trouble and is a contributing member of society said not being able to vote is unfair.
"I'm not asking for a gun," he said. "I'm just asking to be a part of the process, so that if something in my neighborhood is going on, I get the right to say who is on city council. I don't have that right. I have no right to go out and vote for somebody who has my best interests."
Duncan is among more than 300,000 felons in Kentucky who can't vote. Similar bills have cycled through the House, but they've never passed the Senate.
"In the minds of some of those in the Senate, some do not see this as a priority," Rep. Gerald Neal said. "Some actually support and recognize the importance of this bill but don't step forward unless their leadership would do that."
Passing the bill could be a longshot, but Neal thinks now is the time.
"This initiative is worth of, and overdue, of the Senate stepping up to the plate and doing its part," he said.
The bill will be pre-filed and ready for committee when the 2020 session begins in January.
"We hope that our colleagues across the hallway in the Senate will come up with a way in which we can pass legitimate legislation," Graham said.
Rep. Maria Sorolis also introduced four bills that would make voting easier and more accessible in the commonwealth.
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