Early voting, absentee voting, mail-in: Here's how Kentucky's voting laws have changed
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Kentucky voting laws have changed considerably over the past several years, with a new voter identification requirement and no-excuse early voting implemented for the first time — though efforts to amend the state constitution to restore the voting rights of those who have served their full sentence for felonies have come up short.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was one of the key pieces of civil rights legislation passed in the 1960s, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. But Kentucky was not among the seven Southern states subject to special provisions requiring federal preclearance for making changes to voting laws.
More recently, a new law passed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2020 requires voters to show photo identification at the polls, which was supported by the Republican supermajority in the legislature and GOP Secretary of State Michael Adams as a way to discourage voter fraud.
Acceptable forms of identification under the law include a Kentucky driver's license or any military, college and Kentucky government IDs. Voters also can get a free, state-issued ID card if they are at least 18 years old.
If a voter doesn't have any of these IDs, they can also confirm their identity if an election officer knows them, or they can sign a special form at the polls and show poll workers either a Social Security card, ID card of any kind that includes their photo and name, a food stamp card with their name or a credit or debit card with their name.
The Kentucky Attorney General's office received 14 complaints during the 2020 General Election related to allegations of voter fraud. Of these complaints, 11 were found to be unsubstantiated, while one was referred to a partner agency, one led to a guilty plea and one is pending trial.
Pandemic brings expansion of early voting options
Kentucky first allowed early, no-excuse in-person early voting in its 2020 primary and general elections, following an executive order responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In that general election, 1,024,954 people voted by this method, making up more than 47% of the total votes.
Early in-person voting was subsequently passed into law beginning with the 2022 primary election, as any qualified voter may now cast a no-excuse in-person ballot on the Thursday, Friday or Saturday immediately preceding the day of an election.
Certain qualified voters may also apply with their local county clerk's office to cast an excused in-person early ballot during normal business hours in the six business days immediately preceding the Thursday of no-excuse in-person early voting. In the May 2022 primary, 94,699 residents voted early in person — 13% of the vote total.
The 2020 primary and general elections were also the first time in state history that voters could request an absentee ballot through an online portal without an excuse, again through the executive order responding to the pandemic.
In Kentucky's 2020 general election, 626,212 absentee ballots were mailed in or hand-delivered, making up 29% of the total vote — compared to just 35,967 who voted absentee in the 2016 general election.
In 2022, Kentucky reverted to the old rules on eligibility for voting through mail-in or hand-delivered absentee ballots, meaning those eligible to vote by this method must be unable to vote on Election Day or any of the early in-person voting days due to health, work or temporary residence excuses, or on account of their age, disability or illness.
In the May 2022 primary, 25,718 residents voted with a mailed-in or hand-delivered ballot — just 3.5% of the total vote.
Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: How Kentucky voting laws have changed in recent years
