Will Kentucky’s pardoned felons all vote Democrat?
Some things are hard to believe. On June 27, this year, a black University of Louisville student, Nino Owens, wrote a Courier-Journal OpEd to urge Gov. Beshear to sign an Executive Order to restore voting rights for felons.
Nino did not know that permission to vote was already granted to Kentucky’s felons in December 2019 by Gov. Beshear, and it would seem that the C-J forgot that, too. After all, they published Nino’s OpEd. However, on December 12, 2019, the C-J reported:
FRANKFORT — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday signed an executive order to automatically restore the right to vote to more than 140,000 convicted felons with completed sentences, cutting down one of the nation’s highest rates of voter disenfranchisement.
A previous post on the Fastzone blog references this historic ‘blanket pardon’.
The Democrats have taken full advantage of this godsend.
On October 10, 2023, WDRB-TV reported:
The Free the Vote campaign was launched in Kentucky to inform formerly incarcerated people about their right to vote. On Tuesday, the Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People & Families Movement held a rally to share the importance of voting.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A national effort kicked off phase two of their Free the Vote campaign and visited Louisville on Tuesday… The movement… said over 140,000 formerly incarcerated Kentuckians are now eligible to vote in this year's election and 86,000 of them are now registered to vote (emphasis added)… The movement will use different advertising methods to target Louisville voters, including two billboards, six TARC buses showing "Free the Vote" ads, digital ads and direct mail.
WAVE-TV reported on this movement and the activist who is at the helm. David Ayala’s picture is the thumbnail for this post. To date, I can’t find any mention of this Democrat activist movement in the C-J.
Gov. Bevin was not opposed to restoring the vote to pardoned felons, but he wanted to put the question on the ballot to let Kentuckians decide. Perhaps everyone reading this article wants pardoned felons to have the right to vote.
Conservatives may be a little disappointed that the movement to reach out to this sizable niche is under Democrat control.
Why are the Democrats more organized than the Republicans? They even offer a website to allow Democrat nonprofits to grab code for Forms and Buttons to enable easy registrations and payments.
It’s depressing.
Nino: I applaud your concern and efforts. You are special. Please consider joining the Party of Abraham Lincoln. Vote for Daniel Cameron!
