HB580: AN ACT relating to elections and declaring an emergency.

Legislative Summary

Amends KRS 116.112 to allow the Secretary of State to enter into agreements on behalf of the State Board of Elections to further voter list maintenance practices, and to require that a voter confirm that his or her residence has changed; amends KRS 117.035 to provide that appointed members of a county board of elections shall serve four-year terms that expire June 30 of the year following a presidential election, to provide that a member of the county board of elections appointed by the State Board of Elections may be removed for just cause, and to increase the amount of compensation for members of the county board of elections to not less than $50 for each day the board meets; amends KRS 117.065 to require that the county board of elections establish the voting place for each precinct not later than January 15 of each year, and to allow the county board of elections to designate certain buildings as voting places on election day and early voting days; amends KRS 117.066 to require that petitions to consolidate precincts be submitted at least 120 days before a primary election and to provide that beginning on January 1, 2025, the approved petitions shall apply for the entire year; amends KRS 117.076 to remove language requiring a sworn statement to vote by excused in-person absentee voting for voters in the last trimester of pregnancy, to allow any person prevented from voting in person at the polls on election day and from casting a no-excuse in-person absentee ballot because of absence from his or her county of residence to cast an excused in-person absentee ballot, and to require that tallies or counts of in-person absentee ballots, or any partial results, be transmitted or publicized only to the county board of elections until a certain time; amends KRS 117.085 to require that jail staff allow incarcerated voters to receive assistance from the county clerk to request an absentee ballot, to require that mail-in absentee ballots be mailed to a student’s residence or current address at the educational institution where the student is enrolled, to require that mail-in absentee ballots for persons incarcerated in jail who have been charged with but not convicted of a crime be sent to the correctional facility where the person is in custody, to allow voters who are receiving inpatient or residential medical treatment to receive a mail-in absentee ballot at the facility where they are receiving treatment, and to allow certain voters who have left an address to request a second ballot and require the county clerk to cancel the first absentee ballot; amends KRS 117.086 to make technical corrections; amends KRS 117.0861 to allow a caregiver or employee of a caregiving facility, or an employee of a jail, to handle mail-in absentee ballots if ordinarily engaged in mail delivery, as long as the ballot remains private to the voter; amends KRS 117.265 to prohibit any candidate who is disqualified in a primary from running for the same office in the regular election; amends KRS 117.275 to require that the copy of the precinct-by-precinct summary of tabulation showing the results from each precinct include votes cast during all absentee voting; amends KRS 117.295 to allow the county clerk to dispose of video surveillance of voting equipment after 60 days, or upon compliance with the Kentucky Open Records Act or the completion of an investigation or pending litigation; amends KRS 117.389 to remove the 30-day restriction for county clerks to have automatic tabulating equipment tested; amends KRS 117.900 to allow county boards of election to implement annual prize contests for students and teachers and to prescribe guidelines for these contests; amends KRS 117A.070 to inform voters who have applied for a military-overseas ballot of their ability to use a federal write-in absentee ballot; amends KRS 118.125 to remove the requirement that a candidate’s precinct be listed on his or her notification and declaration oath; amends KRS 118.215 to move the candidate certification date to the third Monday after the filing deadline for the primary; amends KRS 118.225 to require that the ballot position for all statewide office candidates or slates of candidates be determined by lot for each congressional district; amends KRS 118.345 to prohibit any candidate who is disqualified in a primary from running for the same office in the regular election; amends KRS 118.415 to remove references to participation by the Attorney General in the formation of a ballot question for a proposed constitutional amendment; amends KRS 118.445 to allow the Secretary of State to publicly designate the location where presidential electors shall convene on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December after their election; amends KRS 118.740 to require that copies of certain proclamations or writs of election be forwarded by mail to the sheriff of a county at least 63 days before an election and that the sheriff shall give notice at least 56 days before the day of an election; amends KRS 118.770 to require that certain certificates of nomination be filed at least 56 days before an election; amends KRS 118A.060 to require that names of judicial candidates be printed on the ballot in accordance with the requirements in KRS 118.129; amends KRS 118A.090 to conform; amends KRS 118A.100 to remove language to provide that this chapter applies to a vacancy in office; amends KRS 119.005 to define “election administration information system”; amends KRS 119.115 to make it a Class D felony to tamper or attempt to tamper with, disarrange, deface, impair, injure, or destroy an e-poll book or election administration information system; amends KRS 160.190 to require that candidates for school board vacancies file nominating petitions not later than the second Tuesday in August preceding the regular election, and file declarations of intent in accordance with KRS 117.265; and requires the State Board of Elections to reappoint appointed members of the county boards of elections whose terms expire on June 30, 2024, for a term of one year to expire on June, 20, 2025; EMERGENCY.