We subscribe to a significant number of newsletters and email blasts, just to try to keep up with the news. Most of it falls in the scan-and-delete category, while a small amount turns into one or more stories.
Then there are the things that hit the inbox that make you go “Hmm – Is this important, or not?” This is about two of those things.
“Ballot Integrity Task Force”
Our Republican Secretary of State and our Republican Attorney General issued a joint press release yesterday announcing they were forming a “Ballot Integrity Task Force.” The stated purpose of this new group is to “bring key stakeholders in the electoral process and criminal justice system together to ensure ballot integrity.”
The task force includes all sorts of folks: the AG’s office, the SOS office, the Board of Elections, state and national Homeland Security, the FBI, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for Kentucky’s Eastern and Western Districts, the Kentucky State Police, the Postal Service, and the Kentucky Army National Guard.
Here’s the summary of what they’ll be doing:
State election officials will provide law enforcement with details of ballots requested and sent, information about suspicious behavior or anomalies, and any evidence of irregularities. Particular attention will be paid to jurisdictions hosting competitive elections for local office, which, unlike Kentucky’s statewide or congressional races, occasionally have proved vulnerable to election offenses in recent history.
Normally, this would probably be a “good for them” sort of thing. I mean, getting all the players on the same page is usually a good idea.
But, having also read recently that the national Republican Party plans on making “vote fraud” a key theme of this fall’s election, and also knowing that they play on hiring thousands of “poll watchers” to watch/intimidate voters, and knowing that cries of “vote fraud” are almost always cover for voter suppression — this announcement gives us pause.
Could it be completely innocent, just our elected officials doing their jobs? Sure.
Could it also be nefarious, laying the groundwork for, as they say, “shenanigans”? Also sure.
At this point, it’s just something to keep an eye on, while we go “Hmm.”
Meeting Agenda for the Joint Committee on the Judiciary
One of our readers, Joanie Prentice, sent us a tip about an upcoming meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on the Judiciary. (By the way, we LIKE getting tips. We don’t always use them, but sometimes they absolutely turn us on to something. Tips@ForwardKY.com)
The meeting is on June 4 at 10:30. Here’s part of their agenda:
3. Executive Powers Under KRS Chapter 39A
- Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Office of the Attorney General
- Victor Maddox, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Office of the Attorney General
- Amy Burke, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Office of the Attorney General
4. Declaring an Emergency: State Cross Comparisons and Recommendations for Reform
- Josh Crawford, Interim Executive Director, Director of Criminal Justice Policy, Pegasus Institute
You catch that? So first, they’re going to have a discussion about the executive powers that governors have, such as the ones Governor Beshear has been using to try to keep us safe. And, the discussion only includes people from our Republican AG’s office.
Then, they’re going to compare our governor’s ability to declare an emergency with those of governors in other states, so they can “reform” those powers. And, oh look – they’ve got the Koch-funded Pegasus Institute to help them.
Now, it’s just a committee meeting in between sessions. And maybe it’s just our legislators wanting to gather some information.
Or, maybe it’s preparation for significant changes to Governor Beshear’s powers, because they don’t like how popular he has become, and they want to scale back his ability to do things. And, maybe they’re getting ready for a special session, wherein they’ll try to pass something to do just that.
The meeting is going to be live-streamed via KET (https://www.ket.org/legislature). If there’s a scheduling conflict, they’ll move the show here. And the documents for the meeting are here. (Right now, it’s just the agenda; check it the morning of the meeting.)
As for me, I’m going to be watching the live stream, just to see what’s discussed. Perhaps you should too. And let’s hope it’s an innocent meeting, and nothing more.
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