Adams says Kentucky voting is secure, and has safeguards to prevent illegal voting

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams says that Kentucky's elections are secure.

Adams told West Kentucky Star that after running on and implementing safeguards with help from the legislature, he feels the voting process is solid. Currently, identification is required to vote in Kentucky, and to obtain a driver's license, you must prove citizenship. Adams said that is the best defense to protect the integrity of the election process. He added that there is an amendment on November's ballot that would remove any doubt about the citizenship requirement. He said, "We want to make our constitution explicit that we don't permit non-citizens to vote in our election." 

In Tennessee, however, no such safeguard is in place. Their top election officer has sent letters to more than 14,000 registered voters asking them to prove their citizenship, a move that has alarmed so-called voting rights advocates. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett from Ripley said that the list of voters was created by comparing data from the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security with the voter rolls. The letters were clear that it is illegal for non-citizens to vote in Tennessee.

Cleaning up the voter rolls in Kentucky has been a priority for Adams. "We have taken 400,000 voters off the rolls in four years.", said Adams. He said with about 3.5 million registered voters that represents more than 10% taken off. Many of those removed from the rolls had moved out of state, while many others had passed away. His office asked for a list of all the Kentuckians that had died from 1900 until now. They found over 10,000 of those individuals still registered, some for decades after their death. Adams noted that of all those taken off, no one has come back to them to say they are still alive or still live in Kentucky. 

As Tennessee is just trying to get a handle on its voter rolls, Adams says Kentucky is in pretty good shape. He said, "There's two challenges. One is making sure they don't register. The other is making sure they don't vote. I'm pretty satisfied that we're good on them not voting, but we also want to make sure they're not on our rolls." 

As November approaches, watch for pushback from so-called voting rights advocates here in the Bluegrass, as well.   

Hear the complete interview with Adams and Greg Dunker here.