KY Primary Watch: High registration, big disenfranchisement

Today, Kentuckians hit the polls for the final Southern primary in the 2008 election season. Sen. Hillary Clinton is the big favorite; an average of the latest five polls shows her up by 29 points in the contest for the state's 45 Democratic delegates.

Turnout should be strong; voter registration has surged, especially among Democrats. Since last November's election, over 13,000 Dems have registered and 2,500 Republicans. Democrats now make up 57% of the state's electorate; Republicans are 37%. The remaining 6% can't vote in the primary.

One important backdrop to the election: the impact of the state's harsh felon disenfranchisement laws. Kentucky is one of only two states in the country [pdf] (Virginia is the other) that permanently bars citizens from voting if they have a felony conviction, and the impact on the state's electorate is immense.

One out of every 17 Kentucky citizens is barred from voting [pdf] -- twice the national average. Most shockingly, one out of every four African-American citizens in Kentucky are unable to vote -- triple the national black disenfranchisement rate.

What's more, nearly 70% of Kentuckians barred from voting are people who have completed their sentence.