Andy Beshear vetoes voter ID bill, says it would ‘create an obstacle’ to voting

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday vetoed a controversial bill that would have required people to show photo identification before they could vote in Kentucky elections.

In his veto message, Beshear wrote Senate Bill 2 “would create an obstacle to the ability of Kentuckians to exercise their right to vote, resulting in fewer people voting and undermining our democracy.”

“Furthermore, no documented evidence of recent voter fraud in the form of impersonation in Kentucky has been presented in support of Senate Bill 2 and, therefore, the legislation would be attempting to resolve a problem that does not exist,” Beshear wrote.

Finally, the governor observed that the shutdown of government offices due to the novel coronavirus epidemic means that Kentuckians without a valid driver’s license or other form of photo ID can’t easily obtain one in the near future.