The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments tomorrow (Thursday) at 1 p.m. EST in our case challenging the constitutionality of Kentucky's "process" for restoring voting rights for people with felony convictions in their past. We believe that Kentucky’s practice of giving the Governor unfettered discretion to decide whose voting rights get restored after they complete a sentence for a felony conviction violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Fair Elections Center and KEJC have been litigating this issue since January of 2019. For folks who want to listen to the arguments live at 1 pm EST Thursday, June 22, the link to the livestream is https://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/live-arguments.
After the oral arguments, the Fair Elections Center and the Kentucky Equal Justice Center will host a press conference on Zoom with our clients at 3:00 pm EST tomorrow. Here is the link to register for the press conference: RSVP link.
Here is the press advisory regarding the case and the press conference. For an "explainer" on the issue and case, here is an op-ed we published in the Courier-Journal in 2021 (pdf). Nothing has changed about Kentucky's practices since then.
Take Action!
We are asking all Kentuckians to take action on this important issue by writing to the Governor and their legislators. Action from either Governor Beshear or the legislature could dramatically improve voting rights for people who have completed their sentences. Write to demand that
1) Governor Beshear expand his Executive Order and
2) the legislature place a constitutional amendment on the ballot so that Kentuckians who have completed their sentences have their voting rights restored automatically no matter who is Kentucky’s Governor.
Here is the link to take action: https://bit.ly/ky-voting-rights
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