Push for voting rights restoration renewed in Kentucky bipartisan effort for 2026 session

FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — A bipartisan push to restore voting rights to felons that have served their time is being renewed in the lead up to the 2026 session.

“Those folks that have served their time. They need that to get that privilege of voting back,” Sen. Jimmy Higdon (R-Lebanon) told lawmakers at an Aug. 26 meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Local Government.  

When someone is convicted of a felony in Kentucky their right to vote is lost. In 2019 Gov. Andy Beshear automatically restored voting rights to more than 140 thousand Kentuckians who’d completed their sentence in all but the most serious crimes.

“But if that executive order goes away, that person would not be able to vote. And so there is just some complexities with executive orders that I believe that is up to us as a General Assembly to go ahead and change this on the Constitution and allow the people of Kentucky to decide,” Sen. Keturah Herron (D-Louisville) said.

Their proposal isn’t a new law but would be a constitutional amendment for voters to have their say, if passed by both chambers of the General Assembly. Kentucky is in the minority of states on the issue. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Kentucky is listed among 10 states that “require additional action” to restore voting rights. Kentucky, Iowa, and Florida are the only states where there is no guarantee in the law nor state constitution that voting rights may ever be restored.

According to NCSL, 38 states automatically restore voting rights to felons; 23 restore them automatically upon release and 15 restore them automatically following probation/parole and, if necessary, all outstanding fines have been paid. Maine, Vermont, and Washington D.C. maintain the right to vote while felons are incarcerated.

“There’s resistance to some degree. But the last time when it passed, it passed out of the Senate 29 to 7,” Higdon said explaining that most resistance came from Democrats at the time who felt his bill was “too stringent.” Higdon said he believes his first try in 2020 could’ve passed the House as well if the pandemic did not derail the session. Herron and Higdon also co-filed a resolution this year to form a task force exploring felon voting rights restoration, but it never passed.

“This would say that they still have to get off of probation in order for them to vote. So you’re still talking about another five to, maybe 15 years,” Herron said sharing an example, explaining that in this version of the bill, a felon would have to fully pay their debt to society before voting rights are restored. Like the current executive order those convicted of treason, election crimes, violent crimes, or crimes against children would be exempted.

The bill language is still being drafted and is expected to be filed during the 2026 session which starts in January. If passed by both chambers, a proposed constitutional amendment does not require the governor’s signature and is instead placed on the ballot during the next election cycle.