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Legislators take extraordinary measures to meet, vote.

Kentucky lawmakers, some of whom were wearing face masks, took extraordinary measures Wednesday to conduct their business of approving a state budget during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 100-member state House only allowed 25 members at a time in the chamber to answer roll call and approve a change in House rules to allow voting by paper ballot.

Each House member was to pick up paper ballots, leave the chamber and record votes somewhere else within the Capitol complex while watching action in the chamber from their offices or cell phones.

After voting, each member was to submit the ballots by electronic means to a designee of his or her political party who will be on the House floor.

The designees were to record the votes on the electronic boards in the House chamber.

“While a legislative first, these actions reflect House Majority Leadership’s intent to preserve each district’s right to participate in the budget process,” said a news release from House Speaker David Osborne’s office.

The changes were drafted after research and discussion with legal and public policy sources, including legal scholars, former judges and the National Conference of State Legislatures, the statement said.

(The above is an excerpt from a longer story at the Herald-Leader. Below are some tweets from various reporters covering today’s session.)

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