State Board Of Elections adopts Vote by Mail for June 23 election

Here's some high points from the State Board of Elections Meeting on Friday morning that just adjourned:

• The governor signed an Executive Order which included this letter from the Secretary of State, all authorizing expanded mail-in voting and other changes for the June 23 elections
• Every Kentucky voter who wants to can vote by mail 
• There will be a postcard to all voters with steps to take to get a ballot – through an online portal or calling their county clerk
• There will no longer be a two-part process where people have to mail in a ballot request before they get their ballot as long as people request their ballot through www.GoVoteKY.com between May 22 and June 15
• Everyone will be filing under a medical excuse for mail-in voting
• There's a June 15 deadline to request a mail-ballot through www.GoVoteKY.com
• Ballots need to be postmarked June 23 and received by June 26
• There will be drop-off locations for ballots, too

• There will be in-person voting by appointment June 9-June 22 (except Sundays) at county clerks' offices
• There will be some kind of cure process to let voters know about errors in their ballot and to let them make corrections.
• Counties are authorized to eliminate some in-person voting locations
• Secretary Adams wants to limit drop boxes to just in front of sheriff's offices, but not all Kentuckians have good experiences with the police and it's not clear the State Board will support that proposal.
• It's unclear if they'll be able to provide return postage for ballots and the State Board is worried about a legal challenge on the basis that that's arguably a poll tax.  They're trying to get funding, but drop off locations would protect them from a legal challenge.
• County Clerks and the Secretary of State will report partial election results on June 23 and full results June 30
• The Secretary of State's suggested regulations were detailed and only provided to the State Board only this morning, which led to some confusion.
• The State Board of Elections did not vote on fine details, but instead voted on only a broad framework with a plan to come back and vote early next week. They adopted the Executive Order and attached letter from Sec. Adams and will promulgate regulations consistent with them.
• It's critical that voters update their voting address at www.govoteky.org so they get the postcard from the state board.

At least a dozen KFTC members were watching the video stream live and commenting. Although we worry about some of the details, members are generally really pleased that all officials involved are moving forward with vote-by-mail and other methods for people to vote safely in this election.