More than 140,000 convicted felons will now be eligible to vote in the state of Kentucky thanks to an executive order by newly elected Democrat Governor Andy Beshear.
Just three days into his governorship, Beshear signed an executive order on Thursday that will allow more than 140,000 convicted felons in Kentucky to vote in state and federal elections. The felons are those convicted of “non-violent” crimes, though violent criminals often plead down to non-violent drug offenses to shorten their prison sentences.
Beshear said his Christian faith led him to sign the executive order. Beshear said during a signing ceremony:
My faith teaches me to treat others with dignity and respect. My faith also teaches forgiveness and that is why I am restoring voting rights to over one hundred forty thousand Kentuckians who have done wrong in the past, but are doing right now. I want to lift up all of our families and I believe we have a moral responsibility to protect and expand the right to vote.
Gov. Beshear Restores Voting Rights to More Than 140,000 Kentuckians: Many who have paid their debt to society once again eligible to vote – https://t.co/h5gJhN2HwX pic.twitter.com/C361TfE6IR
— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) December 12, 2019
Beshear is also supporting a statewide constitutional amendment that will codify the executive order into Kentucky law, ensuring that future convicted felons deemed “non-violent” are eventually allowed to vote in elections.
The latest push by 2020 Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been to allow felons the right to vote from their federal prison cells, as Breitbart News has reported. Such a plan would allow 183,000 convicted murderers and 164,000 convicted rapists to vote while serving federal sentences in prison.
An April poll by Business Insider and Survey Monkey revealed that about three-in-four American voters, or about 75 percent, oppose allowing felons to vote from their federal prison cells.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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