Adams weighs scaling back mail-in voting eligibility for Kentucky's 2020 general election • Mail The Vote US

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams told state legislators Tuesday he is considering scaling back mail-in voting eligibility for the general election this fall.

He cited concerns that county clerks wouldn’t be able to handle the volume of mailed ballots if the state replicated the same no-excuse process from the June primary.

Through a joint executive order by Adams, a Republican, and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, Kentucky primary voters for the first time were able to cast votes by mail-in absentee ballot without offering a specific excuse.

The plan was meant to limit the physical interaction of voters and poll workers to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Over 1 million Kentuckians cast a vote in the pandemic-delayed June 23 primary, a record total, along with the highest turnout percentage of registered voters since 2008.hereas less than 2% of voters typically mail in an absentee ballot, over 70% of primary voters cast their ballot that way in the 2020 primary.

Though touting Kentucky’s handling of its primary as a “nationally recognized success,” Adams told legislators in a Frankfort committee meeting he may not recommend the same no-excuse mail-in voting model for the Nov. 3 general election based on concerns over volume and cost.

With 98 days to go until Election Day, Adams said he has been communicating with Beshear about the general election plan for the past two weeks and expects to deliver his final recommendation to the governor at some point in August.

Asked about Adams’ comment in his Tuesday press conference, Beshear said that with the pandemic “more dangerous now than it was during the primary election,” Kentucky should continue no-excuse absentee voting this fall.

hy would we back off of it?” Beshear asked. “Most of the time when you have success at something you don’t do 75% of what you did to have success.”

While he is confident that Kentucky handled increased mail-in voting effectively and without fraud in the primary, Adams said he is “dubious” that model can be fully replicated in the fall, as turnout is expected to be 250% higher.

“It’s not obvious that our county clerks or the post office can manage a 250% increase in absentee ballots,” Adams said. “That is based on feedback from state and local election officials from both major parties. They and I are concerned that going from 750,000 absentee ballots to 1.875 million absentee ballots, or more, would overload and crash our system.”

Adams also pointed to the considerable price tag of continuing the same model of mail-in voting, noting that the primary was “the most expensive election Kentucky has ever had.”

The state covered the cost of postage for the mailed ballots.

Stating that Kentucky’s 120 county clerks are split on whether to continue the same rules for mail-in voting this fall, Adams said there could also be a middle option of expanding eligibility to certain classes of individuals, while also ensuring that early voting options from the primary continue.

Adams estimated that up to 20% of Kentuckians may be eligible to vote by mail without any change to state law, as long as broad definitions are applied for those impaired by age or illness — such as older voters or those with a preexisting health condition who may be more vulnerable to COVID-19.

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