AN ACT relating to elections.

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AN ACT relating to elections. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 116.055 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) Before a person shall be qualified to vote in a primary, he or she shall: 4
(a) [Shall ]Possess all the qualifications required of voters in a regular election; 5
(b) [Shall ]Have been a registered member of t he party in whose primary he or 6
she seeks to vote or as an independent on December 31 immediately 7
preceding the primary; and 8
(c) [Shall ]Have remained continuously registered as a member of that party in 9
whose primary he or she seeks to vote or as an independent between 10
December 31 immediately preceding the primary and the date set for the 11
primary. 12
(2) In the case of a new registration made after December 31 immediately preceding 13
the primary, a voter shall have registered and remained continuously registered as a 14
member of the party in whose primary he or she seeks to vote or as an independent 15
from the date of registration until the date set for the primary. 16
(3) Any voter who withdraws his or her registration as a member of a party or as an 17
independent after December 31 immediately preceding the primary, and reregisters 18
as a member of [voter with] a different party or as an independent [affiliation], 19
during those periods that the registration books are open immediately preceding the 20
primary, shall not be eligible to vote in the upcoming primary. 21
(4) A[No] person qualified to vote in a primary shall not be allowed to vote: 22
(a) In the primary of more than one (1) political party; and 23
(b) For any party candidates or slates of candidates other than that of the party of 24
which he or she is a registered member , except voters registered as an 25
independent. 26
(5) Voters registered as independent who otherwise qualify to vote in a primary of a 27
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political party may only do so if the political party for the primary in which he or 1
she seeks to participate has, by official action of its state executive committees, 2
notified the Secretary of State on or before December 31 immediately preceding 3
the primary of the po litical party's intent to allow registered independents to vote 4
in that political party's primary. 5
(6) The qualifications shall be determined as of the date of the primary, without regard 6
to the qualifications or disqualifications as they may exist at the succeeding regular 7
election, except that minors seventeen (17) years of age who will become eighteen 8
(18) years of age on or before the day of the regular election shall be entitled to vote 9
in the primary if otherwise qualified. However, any registered vot er, whether 10
registered as a member of a party, political organization, political group, or as an 11
independent, shall be qualified to vote in a primary for candidates listed in all 12
nonpartisan races. 13
Section 2. KRS 117.125 is amended to read as follows: 14
A[No] voting system or voting equipment shall not be approved for use after January 1, 15
2024, by the State Board of Elections, either upon initial examination or reexamination, 16
and no voting equipment or voting system shall b e purchased after July 14, 2022, unless 17
the system and equipment has been certified under KRS 117.379 and is so constructed 18
that it shall: 19
(1) Ensure secrecy to the voter in the act of voting so that no person can see or know 20
for whom any other voter has v oted or is voting, except for those voters requiring 21
assistance under KRS 117.255; 22
(2) Permit votes to be cast for any candidate entitled to have his or her name printed 23
upon the ballots at any primary, regular election, or special election, and for or 24
against any public question entitled to be placed upon the ballots; 25
(3) Except at a primary, permit a voter to vote for all the candidates of one (1) party or 26
for one (1) or more candidates of every party having candidates entitled to be voted 27
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for, or for one (1) or more independent, political organization, or political group 1
candidates; 2
(4) Permit a voter to vote for as many persons for an office as the voter is lawfully 3
entitled to vote for, and no more; 4
(5) Prevent a voter from voting for more persons for any office than the voter is entitled 5
to vote for, and from voting for the same person, or for or against the same 6
question, more than once; 7
(6) Permit a voter to vote for or against any question the voter may have the right to 8
vote on, but no other; 9
(7) Provide for a nonpartisan ballot; 10
(8) Be capable of being adjusted for use in a primary so that a voter may not vote for 11
any person except: 12
(a) Those that the voter is entitled to vote for pursuant to Section 1 of this 13
Act;[seeking nomination as candidates of the voter's party, as ] 14
(b) Candidates for a nonpartisan office;[,] or[ as ] 15
(c) Candidates for an office of the Court of Justice; 16
(9) Permit each voter to vote for all the candidates for presidential electors of any party 17
by one (1) operation; 18
(10) Permit each voter to vote, in any regular or special election, for any person for 19
whom the voter desires to vote whose name does not appear u pon the ballot by 20
providing a method of write-in voting; 21
(11) Be safe, efficient, and accurate in the conduct of elections, and correctly register 22
and accurately count all votes cast for each person, and for or against each public 23
question; 24
(12) (a) Provide each voter an opportunity to verify votes recorded on the permanent 25
paper ballot, either visually or using assistive voting technology, by producing 26
a voter-verified paper audit trail; 27
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(b) Provide each voter an opportunity to change votes or correct any error before 1
the voter's ballot is cast and counted; and 2
(c) Provide a voter who spoils his or her ballot another ballot as provided under 3
this chapter; 4
(13) Use an individual, discrete, pe rmanent, paper ballot cast by the voter for tabulating 5
purposes; 6
(14) Preserve the paper ballot as an official record available for use in any audit or 7
recount; 8
(15) Be suitably designed for the purpose used, constructed of a durable material, and 9
safely transportable; 10
(16) Be capable of determining whether the voting equipment has been unlocked and 11
operated or adjusted in any manner after once being locked; 12
(17) Have a public counter with a register which is visible from the outside of the 13
counter or devic e that will show at all times during a primary or an election how 14
many persons have voted; 15
(18) Have a protective cumulative counter indicating the number of votes cast for each 16
person, and the votes cast for or against each public question which cannot be seen, 17
reset, or tampered with without unlocking a covering device by a key or other 18
security apparatus that cannot unlock any other part of the equipment, and which 19
prevents changes to the cumulative counter once the system has been put into 20
operation on the day of any election; 21
(19) Provide for the tabulating of votes at the precinct as required under KRS 117.275; 22
(20) Provide locks or other security apparatus by which the operation of the voting 23
equipment may be locked before the time for opening the pol ls and after the time 24
for closing the polls; 25
(21) Permit a voter to readily learn the method of operating it, to expeditiously cast a 26
vote for all candidates and on all questions of the voter's choice, and when operated 27
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properly, register and record correctly and accurately every vote cast; 1
(22) Bear a number or other unique designation that will distinguish it from any other 2
voting equipment or voting system; 3
(23) Produce a real -time audit log record for the voting system, and produce a paper 4
record with a manual audit capacity which shall be available as an official record 5
for any recount conducted related to any primary or election in which the system is 6
used; 7
(24) Be accessible for individuals with impairments, including nonvisual accessibility 8
for the b lind or visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity 9
for access and participation, including privacy and independence, as for other 10
voters; 11
(25) Prohibit voting equipment that tabulates or aggregates votes used in official results 12
from connecting to any network, including the internet, or communicating with any 13
device external to the voting system; 14
(26) Meet or exceed the standards for a voting system established by the Election 15
Assistance Commission, as amended from time to time, and t hose approved under 16
KRS 117.379; and 17
(27) Meet such other requirements as may be established by the State Board of Elections 18
in administrative regulations promulgated in accordance with[ under] KRS Chapter 19
13A to reflect changes in technology to ensure the integrity and security of voting 20
systems. 21
Section 3. KRS 118.125 is amended to read as follows: 22
(1) Except as provided in KRS 118.155, any person who is qualified under the 23
provisions of KRS 116.055 to vote in any primary for the candidates for nomination 24
by the political party with which he or she is registered under Section 1 of this Act 25
and at whose hands he or she seeks the nomination, shall have his or her name 26
printed on the official ballot of his or her party for an office to which he or she is 27
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eligible in that primary, upon filing, with the Secretary of State or county clerk, as 1
appropriate, at the proper time, a notification and declaration. This subsection shall 2
not apply to any person who is qualified to vote i n a primary as an independent 3
under Section 1 of this Act. 4
(2) The notification and declaration shall be in the form prescribed by the State Board 5
of Elections. It shall be signed by the candidate and by not less than two (2) 6
registered voters, who at the time of signing are of the same party as the candidate 7
and from the district or jurisdiction from which the candidate seeks nomination. 8
Signatures for nomination papers shall not be affixed on the document to be filed 9
prior to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November of the year 10
preceding the year in which the office will appear on the ballot. The notification 11
and declaration for a candidate shall include the following oath: 12
"For the purpose of having my name placed on the official primary [ election] 13
ballot as a candidate for nomination by the ------ Party, I, ------ (name in full as 14
desired on the ballot as provided in KRS 118.129), do solemnly swear that my date 15
of birth is ----- (month/day/year), that my residence address is ----- (street, route, 16
highway, city if applicable, county, state, and zip code), that my mailing address, if 17
different, is ----- (post office address), and that I am a registered ------ (party) voter; 18
that I believe in the principles of the ------ Party, and intend to support its principles 19
and policies; that I meet all the statutory and constitutional qualifications for the 20
office which I am seeking; that if nominated as a candidate of such party at the 21
ensuing primary[election] I will accept the nomination and not with draw for 22
reasons other than those stated in KRS 118.105(3); that I will not knowingly violate 23
any election law or any law relating to corrupt and fraudulent practice in campaigns 24
or elections in this state, and if finally elected I will qualify for the office." 25
The declaration shall be subscribed and sworn to before an officer authorized to 26
administer an oath by the candidate and by the two (2) voters making the 27
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declaration and signing the candidate's petition for office. 1
(3) When the notice and declaration has been filed with the Secretary of State or county 2
clerk, as appropriate, and certified according to KRS 118.165, the Secretary of State 3
or county clerk, as appropriate, shall have the candidate's name printed on the ballot 4
according to the provisions of this chapter, except as provided in KRS 118.185. 5
(4) Titles, ranks, or spurious phrases shall not be accepted on the filing papers and shall 6
not be printed on the ballots as part of the candidate's name; however, nicknames, 7
initials, and contractions of given names may be acceptable as the candidate's name. 8
Section 4. This Act takes effect December 1, 2027. 9