Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams appeared before the U.S. Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday in a hearing on emerging threats to election administration.
During his testimony, which was done remotely from his office in Frankfort, Adams said, “Voting has never been as accessible, nor as secure, as it has been during the 21 months of my term.”
He described to the senators how he, a Republican, worked with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to develop a system for the 2020 elections during the COVID-19 pandemic that was approved by state lawmakers. That included expanding absentee voting by mail through a secure system for the first time.
“The result was a primary election and a general election that each set records for turnout,” Adams testified. “Yet, there was no spike in COVID-19 cases from in-person voting. This approach proved so successful and so popular, that our Republican-controlled legislature voted nearly unanimously to make most of these temporary changes permanent.”
He also told the panel about a national misinformation effort.
“In Kentucky, we election officials were subjected to a misinformation campaign that resulted in numerous threats of violence and other verbal abuse. The so-called ‘Eyes on Kentucky’ effort directed against us, did not come from conservatives concerned about voter fraud, it came from progressives, duped into believing that we were engaged in voter suppression. Worse, this effort was given oxygen by senior figures within the national Democratic Party. I remain grateful to our Democratic Governor for defending our state and calling out these lies.”
Adams said, “The first step in ensuring the safety of our election officials is to do no harm yourselves. Please keep your rhetoric factual and responsible. Misinformation is the most serious threat our election system faces, because it is upstream of so many other problems we face.”
He wrapped up his remarks by saying, “I have no wish that you pass any particular election laws going forward, but if you do, I hope you will do so in a non-ideological bipartisan fashion, rather than furthering the polarization that plagues our politics.”
This was the third time Adams has been invited before a Congressional committee to share his thoughts on election matters.
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Written by Tom Latek. Cross-posted from Kentucky Today
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