Session Results: Restoring Confidence in Election Integrity
Voting is one of our most important rights and we have an obligation to protect it. Safeguarding elections is crucial as it protects the integrity of the electoral process, maintains public trust, and prevents tampering and manipulation, ultimately ensuring the will of the people is accurately reflected in election outcomes. I appreciate my colleagues taking a stand and passing election reform measures.
Continuing Efforts to Improve Elections: HB 580 builds on previous efforts to modernize Kentucky’s election processes by allowing State Board of Elections to work with other states to ensure removal of voters who are no longer residents; requiring the State Board of Elections to implement a form for voters to self-report when they move; improving access to the ballot for certain absentee situations; and allowing county board of elections membership changes to happen during the off-year of elections instead of after the primary elections during the presidential year. A free and fair republic hinges on the safety of our elections and the efficacy of the process. The legitimacy of any government is closely tied to its elections.
Ensuring Election Integrity: HB 44 sets additional guidelines for voter roll cleanup, including a requirement that the Secretary of State and Board of Elections to work together to create a comprehensive report of all voter roll cleanup activity and submit it to the Legislative Research Commission. Cleaning up our voter rolls is essential to guaranteeing public confidence in our election systems. In 2018, Kentucky was subject to a Federal Judge Consent Decree due to its failure to properly clean up dated voter information. Lawmakers have worked with the Secretary of State to continue working on this issue.
Implementing “Check the Tech” Audits: HB 53 implements a new post-election certification process to improve election accuracy and transparency in each county. The Secretary of State will randomly select one ballot scanner in each county and one race that has been counted on that scanner to be audited by hand. The count would be done by the county clerk or a designee, and any significant discrepancies would be investigated and reported to the Board of Elections, Secretary of State, and Attorney General. We have heard your concerns that Kentucky elections need more transparent, public witnessed election verification to improve public confidence level. Low confidence can lead to low voter turnout. This post-election hand recount provides a layer of accuracy verification that does not currently exist, and will move Kentucky higher up in the national rankings of election integrity law and voter confidence.
Constitutional Amendment/Protecting Elections: SB 143 places a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit non-U.S. citizens from voting on the November 2024 election ballot. Allowing non-citizens to vote would undermine the process by diluting the voice of citizens and potentially skewing the election results. Preventing non-citizens from voting is essential to maintain fairness of elections.
Additionally, I would like to recognize Secretary of State Michael Adams for his recent accomplishment. He was announced as this year’s recipient of the “Profile in Courage” award from the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. I appreciate the hard work of Secretary Adams as he collaborated with the legislature to pass legislation to make absentee voting easier in Kentucky, along with increasing the number of in-person voting days.
As always, I can be reached anytime through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181. You can also contact me via e-mail at Chris.Freeland@lrc.ky.gov and keep track through the Kentucky legislature’s website at legislature.ky.gov.