Democratic State Senator Reggie Thomas has pre-filed a bill that would allow for early voting in Kentucky.
BR49 filed Tuesday would allow registered voters to cast a ballot in-person between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., on any of the three Saturdays prior to the election date. Thomas says his objective is to allow Kentuckians more opportunities to vote.
“Our voting percentages as Kentuckians is abysmally low and that’s not healthy to have just a small number of people voting during an election. So we really need to look at measures and steps to increase the number of people who are able to vote,” said Thomas.
The bill would also extend election day voting hours from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thomas says he hopes early voting is implemented in the 2018 election. Around 59 percent of registered Kentucky voters cast ballots in the 2016 general election. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, 34 states have some form of early voting.
