2020 Legislative Session: Democrats want to change how Kentuckians vote

Several bills proposing to change how Kentuckians vote have been introduced. Those with heavy support of Democrat representatives and no Republican sponsorship include:
1. EARLY VOTING - HB78 / SB43 - Create a new section of KRS Chapter 117 to allow in-person early voting between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the three Saturdays preceding any primary, regular election, or special election…
2. SAME-DAY VOTING - HB80 / SB119 - Amend KRS 116.025 …to allow a person… to register at the person's precinct of residence on the day of a primary or an election if the person confirms his or her identity, completes the registration form and a required oath…

The dangers of early voting have been widely noted. An example:

Although voters may find early voting convenient, turnout data show that early voting may actually decrease turnout, not increase it. Early voting raises the costs of political campaigns, since expensive get-out-the-vote efforts must be spread out over a longer period of time. There is also no question that when voters cast their ballots weeks before Election Day, they do so without the same access to knowledge about the candidates and the issues as those who vote on Election Day. When there are late-breaking developments in campaigns that could be important to the choices made by voters, those who have voted early cannot change their votes.

Read more.

Other articles are here and here.

Warnings about same-day voting have also been sounded:

“Allowing a voter to both register and vote on Election Day makes it nearly impossible to prevent duplicate votes in different areas or to verify the accuracy of any information provided by a voter”…

Read more.

More on same-day voting dangers.

Let your legislator know what you think about these bills.