This November’s election, although small, will be the first one since Gov. Andy Beshear signed bipartisan legislation expanding voting opportunities.
House Bill 574 makes permanent some of the emergency features put in place for last year’s election by the Democratic governor and Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams. The bill allows for three days of early in-person voting, as well as voting supercenters — where any voter in the county can cast their ballot.
It also makes permanent the online portal to request absentee ballots and secure absentee ballot drop boxes.
Adams was in Owensboro Wednesday to discuss election reform and voter registration.
The bill also takes care of a major Republican priority, requiring county clerk offices to gradually switch to equipment that can process paper ballots and allows Adams to easily remove people from the voter rolls.
He said registration is currently declining due to the removal of people who have died or moved; he also isn’t seeing an increase in new registrations.
“In a pandemic atmosphere, it’s difficult for organizations to do registration drives. So we’re going to everything that we can to encourage registration,” Adams said.
Adams said he is a little concerned with the drop in registration but believes that for the 2022 election, there will be an increase as people begin campaigning.
He also noted that House Bill 574 is one of the biggest reforms to the voting system in more than 30 years.
He also believes that by the end of his term there will be a “big bump” up in voter turnout because of how much easier the bill makes it to vote.
“We’ve done more in 18 months to upgrade our system, than had been done in the prior 130 years. I’m really proud of that,” Adams said. “I don’t expect any more major changes to our system during my term of office.”
When the bill was signed in April, Adams said it helped ensure a more secure election process.
“While other states are caught up in partisan division, Kentucky is leading the nation in making it both easier to vote and harder to cheat,” Adams at the time.
