If you want to take the temperature of both parties’ views on elections, look no further than a number of bills filed in recent days by Sen. Arienne Southworth and Lexington Democratic Rep. Chad Aull.
Southworth’s bills would establish a voter tally, add additional requirements for the certification of election results, remove student or employee IDs as accepted proof of identification at the polls, and require that voting systems contain components and subcomponents that are only manufactured and assembled in the United States.
Down the hallway, Rep. Aull’s bills would extend evening voting hours from 6 to 7 PM. Another bill would also make Kentucky part of an agreement to elect the president and vice president through a national popular vote – scrapping the electoral college system for those contests.
The only issue where the lawmakers’ bills appear to agree is the elimination of straight-party voting as a ballot option at the polls.
