• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. voting>

Photo ID law coming to Kentucky while virus shuts many issuing offices

Sara Swann
https://twitter.com/saramswann?lang=en
March 20, 2020
Kentucky statehouse
DenisTangneyJr/Getty Images

At a time when primary turnout is already taking a hit from the coronavirus, a new photo ID requirement in Kentucky looms as another deterrent from the polls this year.

Legislation cleared Thursday by the General Assembly would require would-be voters show a driver's license or other government-issued identification with a photo. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has signaled he opposes the bill, but his veto would have minimal effect because the House and Senate are solidly Republican and have the power to override him by simple majority.

The bill was already viewed as adding Kentucky to the roster of states with the toughest voter ID requirements. Critics now lament the measure could suppress the vote further because of the public health emergency, which has closed or curtailed office hours at many of the government offices that issue ID cards.


Text of the measure, finalized in negotiations just as lawmakers prepared to leave Frankfurt until early April to minimize their Covid-19 exposure, is not yet available to the public. So it's unclear if the photo ID requirement will take effect for the primaries now set for June 23, a month's delay because of the pandemic. Congressional, state legislative, judicial and big city contests are on the ballot along with the two remaining in the Democratic presidential contest.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Kentuckians are now asked to show identification, no photo required, before casting a ballot. Thirty-five states will have some form of voter ID law in effect for November. If Kentucky's law is changed, it would be the eighth state with a similarly strict photo ID law.

Republicans generally praise voter ID laws as a way to safeguard elections from fraud, although there have been no such incidents reported in Kentucky in recent years. Democrats and voting rights advocates say the consequence of strict ID rules is the disenfranchisement of people who are poor, have disabilities, are elderly or come from minority groups.

Before deciding to postpone the end of their annual session, and limit it to the annual budget, lawmakers this week advanced but then abandoned legislation that would require counties to replace their old voting machines with more secure ones. The bill would not have provided any state money to pay for it, though. Kentucky is one of only eight states in the country that still has some voting machines that don't create a paper trail, which is the new standard for conducting the most reliable elections.

While Kentucky will soon receive $6.4 million in federal funds to address election security, it won't be enough to cover a statewide equipment update. State election officials estimate replacing voting machines in all 120 counties will cost $80 million.

From Your Site Articles
  • Kentucky moves quickly to toughen voter ID requirements - The ... ›
  • Missouri, Kentucky move forward on tough voter ID laws ›
  • Rights groups sue Kentucky to expand voting rights - The Fulcrum ›
  • Suit: Ky. needs more than 1 polling place in large counties - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • Kentucky voter ID bill clears Senate, heads to House ›
  • Republicans Push For Voter Photo ID Bill In Kentucky Legislature ›
  • Voter photo ID bill passes legislature, head to Gov. Andy Beshear ›
voting

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow
Contributors

Hypocrisy of pro-lifers being anti-LGBTQIA

Steve Corbin

A dangerous loss of trust

William Natbony

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

David L. Nevins

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber
latest News

Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Joe Weston
9m

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
23h

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

David Butler
01 June

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

James-Christian B. Blockwood
31 May

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Mia Minkin
31 May

Podcast: Why Is Congressional Oversight Important, and How Can It Be Done Well? (with Elise Bean)

Kevin R. Kosar
Elise J. Bean
30 May
Videos

Video: Why music? Why now?

David L. Nevins

Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Our Staff

Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Our Staff

Video: What is the toll of racial violence on Black lives?

Our Staff

Video: What's next for migrants seeking asylum after Title 42

Our Staff

Video: An inside look at the campaign to repeal Pennsylvania’s closed primaries

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Our Staff
23h

Podcast: AI revolution: Disaster or great leap forward?

Our Staff
25 May

Podcast: Can we fix America's financial crises?

Our Staff
23 May

Podcast: Gen Z's fight for democracy

Our Staff
22 May
Recommended
Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Ask Joe: Two sides of a story

Pop Culture
Video: Why music? Why now?

Video: Why music? Why now?

Big Picture
Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Podcast: Saving democracy from & with AI

Technology
Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Default? Financial crisis? Political theater?

Budgeting
Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

Three practical presidential pledges to promote national prosperity

Big Picture
Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

Meet the Faces of Democracy: Justin Roebuck

State