Secure Elections Matter: Kentucky Leads the Way

No matter your party, every Kentuckian wants elections that are honest, secure, and accurate. I've always believed that while we all want our side to win, what we really want is to win — or lose — fairly. An election that people can reasonably doubt is an election that fails everyone, regardless of who wins.

That is why I am proud that the Kentucky legislature has spent nearly a decade making meaningful, concrete improvements to how Kentucky runs its elections. Here is what we have done since taking over in 2017:

  • Photo ID to Vote (SB 2, 2020) Kentucky now requires a government-issued photo ID to vote, the same standard already required to board a plane, open a bank account, or pick up a prescription. The governor vetoed it because he claimed it was racist and would suppress turnout. The legislature overrode him, and there has been no evidence of voter suppression.

  • No Private "Zuckerbucks" Funding of Elections (HB 301, 2022) During the 2020 election, a private nonprofit funded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg quietly channeled hundreds of millions of dollars into local election offices across the country with almost no oversight. Kentucky said no. We passed a law requiring that all election administration costs be paid with public funds, period. Any government employee who accepts outside money for election administration faces felony charges.

  • The Most Comprehensive Election Reform Since 1891 (HB 574, 2021) This bill did several things at once: three days of early in-person voting (including a Saturday), an online portal for absentee ballot requests with identity verification and ballot tracking, a ban on ballot harvesting, the beginning of Kentucky's transition to universal paper ballots, and an enhanced ability to remove nonresident voters from our rolls. The Secretary of State called it the most significant overhaul of Kentucky's election system since 1891.

  • Voting Machines Off the Internet — By Law (HB 564, 2022) We codified the existing practice of keeping voting machines off the internet and made connecting one to the internet a felony. We also doubled the number of counties subject to post-election audits, required all voting machines to be under video surveillance when not in use, and added six additional days of in-person absentee voting.

  • Paper Ballots Required Statewide (SB 216, 2022) Kentucky fully transitioned to paper ballots by January 1, 2024. Paper ballots counted by optical scanners give voters the speed of a quick count and the security of a paper trail that can always be verified.

  • Clean Voter Rolls — With Teeth (HB 44, 2024) Accurate voter rolls are a basic requirement of election integrity. We passed a law requiring an annual public report on voter roll maintenance, cross-referencing court records for noncitizens excused from jury duty and death records from the state health cabinet to remove ineligible voters. We also banned ranked-choice voting in Kentucky. The governor vetoed it. We overrode him 79-20 in the House and 24-8 in the Senate. This bill has already led to finding noncitizens illegally voting.

  • Keeping Election Money Transparent (HB 45, 2025) — We banned foreign nationals from contributing to or attempting to influence Kentucky ballot measures, required disclosure reporting for outside political spending, and mandated "paid for by" disclosures on all political advertising — so voters always know who is trying to influence them.

  • Mandatory Human Eye Audit in Every County (HB 53, 2024) — We now require every county to randomly choose a voting machine after each election and perform a human-eye recount to ensure the machines are in working order. In the elections since this bill has passed, I am not aware of a single vote changing, meaning the voting machines are accurate and that we can rely on them.

  • And More Along the Way — We have also required the State Board of Elections to operate as a truly independent agency with county clerks on its board (2019), strengthened the Attorney General's ability to investigate election irregularities in counties (2023), and made it a crime to misuse the voter registration roster.

Kentucky Is Getting Noticed

The Heritage Foundation's Election Integrity Scorecard has recognized Kentucky as one of the states consistently improving its election security laws, moving in the right direction in both 2022 and 2024. While no state is perfect, I think Kentucky’s elections are the best in the nation. And Kentucky is increasingly held up as a model for how to balance access and integrity.

None of this happened by accident. Secretary of State Michael Adams, our county clerks, and the State Board of Elections have been partners every step of the way. Representatives Jennifer Decker and John Hodgson lead an ongoing working group with county clerks and Board of Elections officials that meets regularly to identify improvements . . . so this work never really stops.

The bottom line: if you have had doubts about the security of elections elsewhere, you have good reason to feel confident about Kentucky's.

If you have other suggestions for improvements in our elections, please email your thoughts to me at jason.nemes@kylegislature.gov.