LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Following a smooth general election, Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams wants to make permanent some of the voting changes temporarily put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adams is proposing legislation that would open the polls before Election Day, allowing Kentuckians more than one day to vote.
“I like early voting," he said. "I haven't met anyone who doesn't like the convenience of being able to take more than one day to go vote."
But Adams said early voting should not be for three weeks as it was in the agreement he worked out with Gov. Andy Beshear for voting during the pandemic.
“I don't think we need three weeks for every election, but I would like to have a few days, maybe the Friday, Saturday and Monday before and Election Day,” he said.
Though Adams said he wants to expand in-person, early voting, he does not want to continue no-excuse absentee or mail-in voting. And he said the big reason is the cost. He said the 2020 general election cost $20 million, double the normal price tag, and it was because of expanded absentee voting.
“That's the most expensive way you can possibly run an election," Adams said. "That's where the vast majority of our extra costs have come from, covering all of these absentee costs especially the postage. It's crazy expensive, and the funds that paid for that came from Congress, and they are about to expire.”
But Beshear said he wants all the changes adopted during the pandemic to be made permanent.
“It should all go into law," he said. "I think this election and the way it was handled was a huge success, and it was done safely in a time of a pandemic."
Adams said he does want to keep the online absentee ballot request portal open and also make it easier for people who do vote absentee to be able to correct any mistakes. He also wants counties to continue offering voting super-centers where anyone can cast a ballot and to consider consolidating some of the smaller polling places.
“Vote centers are better for voters, but they also save counties money and having to recruit, hire and pay more poll workers,” he said.
Adams plans to have a bill ready for the 2021 session which starts in January.
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