On November 19, 2007, Rep. Darryl Owens held the Interim Joint Committee on State Government's Task Force on Elections, Constitutional Amendments and Intergovernmental Affairs meeting in Louisville. Rep. Owens, co-chair of the committee, heard testimony on restoring voting rights to convicted felons who had successfully completed their sentence.

Rep. Owens and Rep. Jesse Crenshaw have pre-filed legislation (Bill Request 197) for the 2008 session that would automatically restore ex-felons' voting rights.

"Kentucky is one of only two states that permanently disenfranchise all persons with felony convictions even after they have completed their full sentence," said Rep. Owens. "The time has come to modernize our process so that the hallmark of democracy, the right to vote, is provided to ex-felons who have completed their sentence."

Testifying at the committee were representatives from the League of Women Voters of Louisville, Catholic Conference of Kentucky, Jefferson County Commonwealth Attorney's office, the NAACP, and the State Board of Elections.

According to data gathered by Catholic Charities, the number of applications and actual restorations has significantly declined. In 2004, only 316 of the 1108 felons that applied had their rights restored; in 2005, only 253 of the 640 applications were granted; and as of September 2007, only 217 of the 474 applications were approved.

"This stigma creates a horrible burden on convicted felons," said Rep. Owens. "And the situation has deteriorated under the Fletcher administration that now requires an essay and three references to accompany the application."

Currently there are 130,000 ex-felons in Kentucky who have not had their voting rights restored.

"I pay my taxes, hold a full time job and wanted to do the next right thing in my life and that was having the privilege of voting restored to me," said Mitchell Ford, a convicted felon who served six years in prison. "It was a long process, but I'm very glad and proud that I did it."