158,300 Kentuckians Remain Disenfranchised Ahead of May 19th Primary Election
In Kentucky, over 158,300 citizens are barred from voting in the May 19th primary elections due to a felony conviction.
Related to: Voting Rights, State Advocacy
[Washington, D.C.] – In Kentucky, over 158,300 citizens are barred from voting in the May 19th primary elections due to a felony conviction. Despite a gubernatorial executive order in 2019 intended to ease this disenfranchisement, many justice-impacted people are still denied the right to cast their ballot.
These bans result in a stark racial injustice in ballot access. Kentucky has the third highest rate of disenfranchisement among Black and Latino voting eligible citizens. Black Kentuckians of voting age are nearly three times as likely as their non-Black counterparts to lose their right to vote due to felony-level conviction.
“Living without the right to vote, even decades after completing my sentence, is a daily reminder that past mistakes still define how I am seen, no matter the growth, the work, or the life I have built since,” said Marcus Jackson, Executive Director of Advocacy Based on Lived Experience (ABLE). “That kind of stigma does not make our communities safer; it holds people back. It also sends a message that trying to do better does not matter, discouraging people from fully applying themselves when the outcome feels the same. Real accountability is completing your sentence. After that, there should be a clear and equal pathway forward, because once it is done, it is done.”
In the most recent legislative session, Senate Bill 80 – a constitutional amendment that automatically restores voting rights to many individuals with past felony convictions upon completion of their sentence – failed in the Kentucky State House, representing a missed opportunity to address systemic inequities.
“Kentucky’s continued disenfranchisement policies strip voting rights from more people with felony convictions than 40 other states. Black Kentuckians are disproportionately impacted, silencing their voices in the laws and policies that shape their communities futures,” said Bob Libal, Senior Campaign Strategist at The Sentencing Project. “ Civic engagement is fundamental to our democracy—but when we strip people of their voice based on criminal legal status, we undermine the very principles of liberty and justice for all.”
Since 1997, 26 states and the District of Columbia have expanded the right to vote to over 2 million Americans with felony convictions. While the failure of Senate Bill 80 marked a setback, it also underscored the growing momentum for change. Kentucky lawmakers have both the opportunity and obligation to advance meaningful reform that restores voting rights and affirms the fundamental principle that democracy works best when all voices are heard.
About Advocacy Based on Lived Experience (ABLE)
Advocacy Based on Lived Experience (ABLE) builds and fosters relationships of trust amongst Kentuckians with lived experience and their communities through education, mobilization, and organization to promote healthy civic participation for the betterment of people and communities.
About The Sentencing Project
The Sentencing Project advocates for effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice. www.sentencingproject.org
