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U.S. NEWS Diaranson 17 Maart 2021

Kentucky lawmakers advance bipartisan election reform bill

(AP) — In sharp contrast three decades. prohibited early voting by
to bitter partisan battles Across the country, Republi- mail or in person unless a
being waged elsewhere cans have introduced a flood person could not vote on
over election laws, Re- of legislation to restrict vot- Election Day because of ad-
publicans and Democrats ing access after President Joe vanced age, illness, severe
in Kentucky were on the Biden beat former President disability or temporarily re-
verge Tuesday of joining Donald Trump in Novem- siding out of the county or
forces to loosen the state’s ber. Many of the proposals state.
voting access laws to make target absentee voting after The special pandemic-relat-
limited early voting a fix- Trump repeatedly made false ed election rules Beshear and
ture. claims about fraud in mail Adams worked out last year
voting. included multiple weeks of
A measure overwhelmingly The Kentucky legislation, by early in-person voting, in-
approved Tuesday in the contrast, would relax pre- cluding Saturdays, to prevent
state Senate would give Ken- pandemic voting law to make a crush of Election Day vot-
tucky voters three days of it easier to vote. It would al- ing.
no-excuse, early in-person low counties to establish vote Republican lawmakers
voting — including a Satur- centers, where any voter in backed away from continu-
day — before Election Day. the county could vote re- ing weeks of early in-person
But it backed off from the gardless of precinct. It would voting for future elections,
temporary, pandemic-related maintain an online portal but they accepted the three
accommodations made last for Kentuckians to request a days of no-excuse, early in-
year that allowed widespread mail-in ballot but keep exist- person voting.
mail-in absentee balloting. ing restrictions on who can Sen. Morgan McGarvey,
The bill also seeks to vote by mail. the chamber’s top-ranking
strengthen election security On the election security side, Democrat, said the bill’s ex-
protections. the bill would result in the panded voting options didn’t
The legislation passed the the best voter integrity laws voting measures during the statewide transition toward go as far as he wanted but saw
Senate by a 33-3 margin, in the country,” Republican pandemic that helped Ken- universal paper ballots to it as a start.
sending it back to the House Senate Majority Floor Leader tucky largely avoid the long guarantee a paper audit trail. “I’d like to see even more vot-
to consider changes made Damon Thayer said. lines and other problems en- It enhances the ability of state ing options included in this
to it. Republicans dominate Kentucky is accustomed to countered elsewhere. election officials to remove bill,” McGarvey said during
both chambers, but Senate bare-knuckled partisan fights, Adams noted this week that nonresident voters from vot- the Senate debate. “But I do
Democrats joined in voting but its top elections official while other states are “trying er rolls. It expressly prohibits think it’s important for us to
for the bill. If it clears the noted the mild tone in the to make it harder to vote,” and penalizes ballot harvest- codify some of these changes
legislature, it would be sent state, especially compared to Kentucky lawmakers are ing, the practice of collecting now and they do give the vot-
to Democratic Gov. Andy the bitter debates on election “improving both voter ac- ballots from likely supporters ers more options, and we can
Beshear. law changes in other states. cess and election integrity.” and returning them to elec- continue to work on it.”
“If it passes and becomes law, It echoed the tone set before He has called it Kentucky’s tion offices. ___
not only will it transform the last year’s primaries, when “most significant election- Before the COVID-19 pan- The legislation is House Bill
way in which Kentucky elects Beshear and Republican Sec- reform legislation” in nearly demic hit last year, Kentucky 574.
its public officials, but also retary of State Michael Ad-
ensure that we have one of ams hashed out emergency