Beshear siding with ACLU in lawsuit to overturn Kentucky's Voter ID law

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is siding with the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit that seeks to have the state’s new voter ID law overturned because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I'm certainly not going to oppose their attempt to overturn that law,” Beshear told reporters.

The ACLU filed the suit on behalf of the League of Women Voters, the Louisville Urban League, the Kentucky chapter of the NAACP and others.

They argue, and Beshear agrees, that requiring people to go out and get an ID to vote puts them unnecessarily at risk from the virus.

“Kentuckians should not be forced to choose between their health and their vote," said Ceridwen Cherry, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project.

Though Beshear, as governor, is named as a plaintiff in the suit, he agreed with the ACLU’s argument.

Gov. Andy Beshear.jpg — Gov. Andy Beshear

“In the midst of COVID-19 you shouldn't have to go out and stand in line to get a piece of ID just to vote,” he said.

Beshear's opposition to the law is nothing new. He vetoed it in April, but the Republican-dominated legislature overrode him.

“I vetoed that law because I don't think we should be making it harder to vote,” he said.

In a statement, Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, who is also named in the suit, said he will defend the law.

He also said the suit was an attempt by the "far left" to have courts — rather than legislators — write laws.

Michael Adams.jpg — Secretary of State Michael Adams.

"If these self-described advocates for democracy actually believed in democracy, they would let the democratic process work and let elected officials make policy," Adams said.

Beshear said he has contended all along that supporters of the bill should have delayed implementation to 2021.

“If you truly believe in this, to those that backed it, do it next year,” he said. “Do it right outside of when we've gotten past COVID”

The suit also seeks to have voting by mail extended to the general election. Gov. Beshear issued an emergency order in April to expand absentee voting during the pandemic, but the order applies only the primary election.

No date has been set for a hearing in the case.