A House committee on Thursday advanced legislation sponsored by Owensboro Rep. DJ Johnson that would expand Kentucky’s voter roll maintenance procedures, including measures aimed at preventing felons and non-citizens from voting.
Johnson said the legislation was drafted with input from the state Secretary of State’s office, the Kentucky Board of Elections, the Kentucky County Clerk’s Association, and other stakeholders.
Under HB 534, the Administrative Office of the Courts would be required to provide the State Board of Elections with a list of all individuals convicted of a felony in Kentucky by July 1 each year. The board would then have until Aug. 1 to remove any registered voters on that list from the state’s voter registration records.
The bill would also authorize the board of elections to enter into agreements with federal agencies to identify registered voters who are not U.S. citizens. Those individuals would be notified that they are ineligible to vote unless they provide proof of citizenship. Johnson said the legislation would allow individuals flagged as non-citizens to cast provisional ballots until their status is verified.
Another provision would allow Kentucky to share limited voter information — including name, date of birth, and Social Security number — with federal agencies.
HB 534 would also expand appointment authority to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance to include the Senate president and the speaker of the House. In addition, the bill would permit county clerks to make images of scanned cast ballots publicly available online, provided the images contain no voter-identifying information.
Danetta Ford Allen, president of the Kentucky County Clerk’s Association, told lawmakers the organization has “many concerns” with the bill, though she highlighted three during Thursday’s meeting.
“First, while county clerks appreciate the intent behind allowing Kentucky to use the federal citizenship information available through the SAVE Act, we do feel that it will put eligible Kentucky voters at risk of becoming ineligible and incorrectly removed from the voter rolls,” Allen said.
She also warned that the bill’s emergency clause could disrupt the May 19 primary election and raised concerns about making cast ballot images electronically available.
Johnson said the technology referenced in that section is still emerging and that the provision is intended to be proactive. Rep. Josh Branscum, R-Russell Springs, asked whether lawmakers should “hit pause” on that portion of the bill.
Johnson said he would be open to a floor amendment to delay implementation until after the May 19 primary.
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, D-Louisville, said Kentucky already has one of the safest election systems in the country and asked Johnson whether he was aware of any widespread fraud.
Johnson said he was aware of at least one instance in which ballots were illegally cast in his own election, but agreed that Kentucky’s elections are secure.
“That does not mean we can’t continue to improve it though,” he said.
The committee approved HB 534 on a 9-2 vote, with one member voting “pass,” sending the bill to the full House.
Rep. Erika Hancock, D-Frankfort, voted against the measure, citing fiscal and policy concerns.
“This bill creates sweeping election changes without documented need, fiscal transparency, or adequate voter protections in the current form,” Hancock said.
Several committee members said they had reservations but ultimately supported the bill, saying they trust Johnson to address outstanding issues. Rep. Ryan Bivens, R-Hodgenville, was among them.
“Obviously, we don’t want to do anything that’s going to be cumbersome to our county clerks out there, so I would love to see you clean this up before we get to the House floor,” Bivens said. “But I do think the intent behind this is very good.”
