Paul Lobbies For Voting Rights

U.S. Senator Rand Paul hopes to do in Washington what he hasn’t been able to do in Kentucky. 

The Bowling Green Republican is drafting a bill to restore the voting rights of some convicted felons.  Senator Paul plans to introduce federal legislation this week that would restore voting privileges to non-violent convicted felons who have completed their sentences. 

Speaking Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Paul said Senator Benjamin Cardin is sponsoring a separate bill to restore the voting rights of ALL convicted felons.  Paul thinks the final legislation will be a mixture of the two bills. 

In the Kentucky General Assembly this year, Senator Paul testified in support of a bill to automatically restore felons’ voting rights.  The legislation failed to pass.  Under current state law, felons are required to ask the governor to have their rights restored.