Chris Kenning

The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — His mailbox has been stuffed with campaign letters, his TV plastered with political ads. But Brian Wright of Louisville won't be casting a ballot in Kentucky's Nov. 4 election.

He's among an estimated 7.4 percent of voting-age Kentuckians — including 22.3 percent of black voting-age residents — barred from voting because of felony convictions, a disenfranchisement rate that is third-highest in the nation, according the Sentencing Project, a reform advocacy group.

"I want to have a voice," said Wright, 33, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to a drug possession offense, receiving five years of probation and losing the ability to cast a ballot.

Kentucky is one of only four states where all felons permanently lose their right to vote without a restoration by the governor, said Marc Mauer, Sentencing Project executive director, who argued the state's high exclusion rate is "quite likely to have a real impact on elections."

But Wright is among those hoping that could soon change. After years of failed attempts, there's growing support for a state referendum in Kentucky that would allow for the automatic restoration of voting rights for most non-violent felons who have served their time.

The effort gained traction earlier this year with the high-profile support of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder singled out Kentucky in calling for reforms. More recently, the Louisville Metro Council passed a resolution supporting a change.

Several bills by both Democrat and Republican sponsors have been pre-filed in the legislature to restore rights to felons who have served their time and were not convicted of sex offenses, homicide, treason or bribery. Each is an amendment to the state Constitution that would require approval from 60 percent of lawmakers and ratification by voters, but advocates see next year as their best chance yet.

"I'm hopeful," said Richard Beliles, state chairman of Common Cause Kentucky, which plans to lobby for a change when the legislative session kicks off in January. "The whole purpose of the justice system is to make better citizens, not just punish, and then we don't allow them to vote."

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, modern disenfranchisement laws — taking away voting and civil rights because of a crime — date to ancient Greece and Rome.

Although most states have placed limits on voting by felons, a number of states since the mid-1990s have eased such laws, including repealing lifetime bans or simplifying the process for regaining voting rights.

But it's often controversial, with critics arguing felons shouldn't automatically get to vote again. South Dakota, for example, tightened its laws in 2012 by revoking voting rights for felons on probation.

Katherine Nichols, head of Kentuckians Voice for Crime Victims, said she would vote against such an amendment, arguing felons "lost that right when (they) chose to commit the crime."

Mauer said four states, including Kentucky, permanently ban all felons from voting without a pardon. Another eight do not automatically restore rights to all felons after sentences but have less stringent rules. Arizona, for example, enacts a permanent ban after a second felony, while others have waiting periods before rights are restored.

In Kentucky, felons with completed sentences, probation and parole can petition the governor for the right to vote, but it's a process reform advocates say is not uniform.

Gov. Steve Beshear, who supports a Constitutional amendment, has restored the voting rights of more than 8,727 felons during his two terms, looking into each case including contacting prosecutors to see if they object, according to his office. Only 702 were denied. Former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, however, approved far fewer and added requirements, making felons write essays.

The Washington D.C.-based Sentencing Project used 2010 Census data and other more recent criminal justice statistics to estimate in 2012 that 243,842 disenfranchised felons in Kentucky could not vote — that included 56,920 African Americans.

The disproportionate impact on African Americans reflects broader disparities in the criminal justice system, Mauer said, but is keeping large numbers from participating in elections.

Wright said he knows he committed a crime and accepted the consequences. He was convicted in 2008 of possession of a controlled substance for having cocaine, he said, dating to his time as a student at the Kentucky State University.

"I was a kid, partying," he said. "And it ruined my life.'

Sentenced to five years probation, Wright went on to earn a master's degree in public administration at Strayer University.

His probation ended in 2013. While he also can't own a gun, run for office or serve on a jury, it is his voting rights he most wants restored. He said he plans to petition to the governor, but thinks there should be a simpler process.

"It's rough," he said, explaining that he wishes he could vote next week particularly in the high-profile Senate race between Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and Democrat challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. "Because I believe in having a voice."

Wright said he is hoping that — although a bill to change the law failed last year — the state will take up the issue in the next General Assembly in January. For him, it would a key step in leaving his mistakes behind and becoming a full part of society.

"I just want to have a chance" to participate, he said.