A House bill to make many of the election changes made due to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 permanent passed a Senate committee on Monday.
The sponsor of House Bill 574, Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, appeared before the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
Written by Tom Latek of Kentucky Today
“Our efforts were inspired by the fact that Kentucky was fortunate to emerge from the 2020 election as a leader of integrity in elections,” she testified. “Kentucky enjoyed a record-breaking turnout in that election, and as a result, caused many of us in the General Assembly to consider what, if anything, that happened during that election should be made permanent. If nothing happens, we will revert to our old election laws.”
Some of the bill’s provisions include:
- Creating three days of early in-person voting, the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before an election. An excuse would not be required for Saturday.
- Enhancing the ability of state election officials to remove nonresident voters from the voter rolls.
- Transitioning toward universal paper ballots, statewide.
- Permitting counties to establish vote centers, where any voter in the county may go regardless of their home precinct.
- Keeping the online voter portal, so absentee balloting is fully transparent both to voters and election officials.
- Expressly prohibiting and penalizing ballot harvesting.
- Retaining the signature cure process, so absentee voters whose signatures have changed over time have a chance to prove identity and have their ballots counted.
- Allowing registered voters who are not registered as Democrats or Republicans to serve as poll workers.
Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown), a member of the committee, presented a committee substitute that changes some of the provisions.
Although a copy was not made available to the public, Thayer said it includes a trigger for an automatic recanvass of any race with a margin of less than one percent, the online voter portal cannot open until 45 days before the election, and made school districts one of many government entities that cannot use taxpayer money to try and get a tax increase passed.
The measure cleared the committee 9-1 and now heads to the Senate floor. If it wins approval there, it will have to return to the House to vote on whether to concur in the Senate changes.
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