Pol Watchers

House starts process to allow early voting

Allowing Kentuckians to walk into their county clerk's office to vote up to 12 days before Election Day could help boost the commonwealth's sagging participation rate, Secretary of State Trey Grayson suggested Tuesday.

Grayson is backing a bill pushed by Rep. Milward Dedman, D-Harrodsburg, that would allow early voting in Kentucky. Currently, voters must have an excuse -- such as being scheduled to go out of town on Election Day -- before they can vote on an absentee ballot through the mail or at the clerk's office.

Thirty-five states offer no-excuse early voting, including neighbors Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and West Virginia.

The House Elections and Constitutional Amendment Committee unanimously passed House Bill 138. However, there was some discussion about whether the state constitution would have to be re-written.

Both Grayson and Rep. Rob Wilkey, D-Scottsville and the Democratic House whip, said they considered an attorney general's opinion on the matter to be "inconclusive."

The constitution states that Kentuckians can only cast a vote on Election Day unless they are going to be away from their county on that date. But Wilkey said that because everyone's votes are counted on Election Day, it shouldn't require a revision of the state's guiding legal document -- just a new statute, which is exceedingly easier to pass than a constitutional amendment.

Grayson said it could cost the state $2 million more to allow early voting -- mostly to cover extra staff at clerks' offices and the cost of additional ballots. But he said it would be worth it to increase participation.

Grayson noted that the number of absentee ballots increases with each election, even though overall participation rates are sliding. Just 37 percent of Kentuckians voted in November's gubernatorial election, down from 2003.

"Thirty-seven percent is embarrassing," said Wilkey. "Our democracy cannot work if we're getting one-third of voters to the polls."

- Ryan Alessi

House panel approves felon voting rights amendment

For the fourth time in as many years, a provision to allow convicted felons who have served their time to vote has passed a House committee.

The House elections and constitutional amendment committee approved the measure, 7-1, prompting applause from advocates attending the meeting. The lone Republican who attended the meeting, Rep. Joseph Fischer, R-Fort Thomas, cast the only "no" vote.

Rep. Jesse Crenshaw, D-Lexington, presented House Bill 70, which requires re-writing part of the constitution, and noted that last year's version cleared the full House by 70 votes before withering in the Senate. Since the 2007 version, Kentucky and Virginia became the last two states in the country that still block felons from having their voting rights restored after finishing their sentences.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican, last year issued an executive order easing the restrictions on voting restoration.

Dave Stengel, Jefferson County Commonwealth Attorney, said blocking felon voting rights is akin to "piling on after the whistle," adding that they still face difficulty getting jobs with such a black mark on their permanent record.

He said the loss of voting rights is rarely cited as an effective deterrent of crimes.

"Not one of them said, 'Oh my God, I'll lose my right to vote,'" he said.

About 128,000 Kentuckians currently haven't had their voting rights restored. That has, in effect, made "a felony conviction a life-long sentence," said Raoul Cunningham, president of the Louisville NAACP.

Former Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration tightened the policies to reinstate voting rights by requiring felons to submit a written request and three references. That slowed the process for many people, said Teena Halbig, president of the Kentucky League of Women Voters.

Fischer, before he voted against the measure, noted that each governor has the power to tighten or relax the process as they see fit.

"We shouldn't do this on a governor by governor basis," Crenshaw responded.

- Ryan Alessi 

House passes resolution to study voting centers

A measure directing the legislative staff to study the benefits and/or challenges associated with creating central voting centers to replace scattered precincts passed the House by an 81-11 vote.

Rep. Reginald Meeks, D-Louisville said eight states are experimenting with centralized voting facilities as a way to increase election participation.

Such centers could allow for expanded voting hours and could reduce the cost to counties by cutting the number of precincts and precinct workers, Meeks said.

The study would look at what technologies could be used to ensure that someone couldn't vote at multiple voting centers. And Rep. Steve Riggs, D-Louisville, said allowing counties to invest in voting centers could help rural counties comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, considering some smaller precincts may not be.

- Ryan Alessi

House joins Senate with its own bill to scrap runoff

The House overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday that would eliminate the gubernatorial runoff provision, which would have forced a special overtime election last June had Democrat Steve Beshear not squeaked over the 40 percent threshold in the Democratic primary.

The runoff provision is a leftover measure from 1991 election reforms that requires a runoff election in the governors race if no candidate receives at least 40 percent of the vote in a party primary.

Earlier this month, the Senate approved a similar measure to drop the provision.

Rep. Darryl Owens, D-Louisville, sponsored the bill, which passed 92-3. Three Democrats -- Rep. Jim Wayne of Louisville, Rep. Johnny Bell of Glasgow and Rep. Jim Gooch of Providence -- voted against the repeal of the runoff.

Wayne argued that just 37 percent of Kentucky voters showed up to the polls in last year's primary election.

"We're taking this bill and saying that of the 37 percent, we could have less than 40 percent potentially select the next governor," Wayne said on the House floor. He said county clerks' complaints of having to foot up to a combined $5 million bill to hold the extra election wasn't enough.

"Ladies and gentlemen, democracy does cost money if you're going to do it right," he said.

But Rep. Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, noted that other southern states that have runoff elections end up drawing fewer people to the polls for the extra overtime contest.

"Let's get this over with and lay it to rest," he said.

- Ryan Alessi