Take, for instance, this from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth:
House Bill 70 to Restore Voting Rights to Former Felons who have served their debt to society has finally been called up for a vote on the House Floor today and passed with an overwhelming 80 "yes" votes to 14 "no" votes!
We're not at all happy that the House took took so very long to act on this bill, giving very little chance for it to get through the Senate, but we're very pleased that the bill did pass by such a wide margin.
The six floor amendments to the bill that KFTC opposed were all defeated, but Rep. Sal Santoro of Boone County, attached an amendment that exempted former felons convicted of manslaughter from the automatic restoration. KFTC opposes this change because we want all former felons to have the same chance to get their rights back.
HB 70 would automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons except for those convicted of sex crimes, murder, and manslaughter.
Some people -- like child molesters -- tear up their humanity cards. Forget about their voter registration cards. The bill has no chance in the Senate -- and having the KFTC folks screaming at David Williams is an interesting image. It seems to me we already set the bar for civic participation plenty low enough.
