From the KDP: ICYMI: McConnell Protege, New Secretary of State Claims Voter ID is Due to “Competitive Senate” Race

By KENNY COLSTON

Kentucky Democratic Party

Frankfort, KY-- On Wednesday, new Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams made it clear why Republicans are just now pushing a restrictive, unnecessary Voter ID bill despite having complete control of state government from 2015-2019 -- Moscow Mitch is up for re-election.

Speaking to a State Senate committee considering Senate Bill 2, Adams admitted he has no personal knowledge of in-person voter fraud in Kentucky.

When asked why the bill was necessary for November 2020 instead of implementing in 2021, Adams revealed the true reason for the bill -- a “competitive Senate seat.” 

“I’m a little concerned about delaying it past [November 2020] because functionally it would delay this until 2021 and then this is a 2022 bill... my problem with that is if there is any election we should be concerned about ballot integrity it’s this one. This is obviously a high-profile election. You’ve got a very competitive Senate seat, in a, uh, very competitive election for essentially determining which party controls the Senate. You’re going to see potentially foreign actors, potentially see domestic actors messing with this election. So to me, I think it’s better to have this going into effect for 2020.” 

Adams also referenced several close State House contests in 2018 -- including the one Republicans tried to steal from State Rep. Jim Glenn during a 2019 election contest -- as additional motivation for the bill. 

“Under pressure, Secretary Adams revealed the true reason for this unnecessary bill -- it’s a Moscow Mitch protection plan,” Kentucky Democratic Party spokeswoman Marisa McNee said. “Every Kentuckian should be concerned about this kind of outright politicization of the Office of the Secretary of State,” concluded McNee.