Voting’s Outcasts: Why One in Five Blacks in Kentucky Can’t Cast a Ballot

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From Colorlines:

One out of every 13 African Americans are already disenfranchised, and it’s not because of voter ID laws, voter purges, or cut-offs to early voting, but because they’re caught up in the criminal justice system. According to a new study released this summer by The Sentencing Project, in 2010, 5.85 million otherwise eligible voters were disenfranchised because they’re current or former felons. Of these, a full 75 percent were already out on parole, probation, or had already completed their complete sentence. Nationwide, nearly eight percent of African Americans have lost their right to vote, compared to nearly two percent for non-African Americans—illustrating the lasting effects of a racially biased criminal justice system.

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More than one in five African Americans in Kentucky can’t vote because they have been convicted of a felony. In most states, after people have served their time, they are given their voting rights back. Not in Kentucky, where more than 243,000 residents have lost the right to participate in democracy.

Under the State Constitution, former felons have to petition the governor in order to have their rights restored. It’s a tricky process that takes time and doesn’t guarantee a result, partly because each governor sets up his or her own procedure during his or her tenure.

Under current Governor Steve Breshear, a former felon has to wait until they have served out all their prison time, probation, and parole. Then, they have to get the signatures of a probation or police officer, and have that notarized. Then, their paperwork gets kicked around a bit between Corrections, the local Commonwealth Attorney, and the Governor. If everything goes well, the applicant can get the right to vote back in as little as 60 days.

But the Commonwealth Attorney has a lot of leeway. Some give back rights easily, while others approve only a few. Making the process even more complicated is the fact that many elections officials and corrections staff don’t know the process themselves. According to Dave Newton, KFTC organizer, “many former felons don’t even realize that they can get their voting rights back.”

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