FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – A federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky is challenging the method used by Kentucky to remove voters from the rolls, claiming it violates federal voter rights protections.
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC), which filed the suit, names Secretary of State Michael Adams, the state’s chief election officer, along with the members of the Kentucky Board of Elections, all of whom are charged in their official capacities. It alleges Kentucky elections laws, as changed by the General Assembly in 2021, violate the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993.
According to the lawsuit, “The NVRA was enacted to protect American citizens from discriminatory and unfair voter registration laws, with particular emphasis on those practices that negatively impact voter participation among minority groups, including racial minorities. To that end, the NVRA establishes, among other things, standards and procedures to ensure the accuracy of voter registration rolls, including safeguards to prevent the purging of eligible voters.”
Plaintiffs claim NVRA provides that a person’s registration cannot be cancelled if a person is believed to have moved out of state, unless the person is first given written notice and an opportunity to respond,
KFTC says the Kentucky law circumvents that requirement and seeks to halt the removal process.
Adams, a Republican, says he is promising to defend Kentucky’s bipartisan election integrity statute, signed into law by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, that prevents registered voters in other states from voting in Kentucky.
“Kentucky’s elections are a national success story,” Adams said. “Three years ago, Kentucky enacted a bipartisan law to prevent voting in more than one state in a presidential election. Now that a presidential election is underway, a fringe left-wing activist group is trying to undo that law and sow chaos and doubt in our elections. We believe voters should vote in only one state, and we expect to prevail in court.”
No word yet on when the case will be heard.
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