AN ACT relating to elections and declaring an emergency.
Summary
Amend KRS 116.112 to allow the State Board of Elections to enter into intergovernmental agreements with other governmental agencies to exchange data to assist in investigating violations of election offenses; amend KRS 117.125 to require voting systems and equipment meet or exceed a standard approved by the Election Assistance Commission; amend KRS 117.145 to require that county clerks provide voting equipment with the necessary supplies for write-in votes on the day before any in-person voting occurs; amend KRS 117.265 to change the date a person running for President or Vice President must file a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate to the same deadline as the certification of candidates; amend KRS 117.355 to require county boards of elections to deliver signature rosters and precinct results to the State Board of Elections within 10 days after any primary or general election; amend KRS 117.379 to require voting systems meet a previously established Election Assistance Commission standard; amend KRS 117.389 to require county clerks to test automatic tabulating equipment after any petitions for local option elections have been filed; amend KRS 118.015 to change the definition of "political party"; amend KRS 118.125 to require that the notification and declaration be in the form prescribed by the Secretary of State; amend KRS 118.129 to allow a contraction as an acceptable form of a candidate's name; amend KRS 118.165 to require that candidates for Commonwealth's Attorney file nomination papers with the Secretary of State; amend KRS 118.315 to require that the form of petition be prescribed by the Secretary of State; amend KRS 118.367 to specify that candidates for a special election or election for an unexpired term shall not be required to file a statement-of-candidacy form; require that the statement-of-candidacy form be prescribed by the Secretary of State; amend KRS 118A.060 to require that the petition for nomination be in the form prescribed by the Secretary of State; amend KRS 119.015 to remove the term "falsely"; amend KRS 119.165, relating to the penalty of a Class B misdemeanor regarding voters who vote at a regular or special election before being a citizen; make technical corrections; amend KRS 132.017 to require that questions as to whether the property tax rate shall be levied shall be submitted to voters in a common school election not less than 50 days nor more than 60 days from the date the signatures are validated; require the school district holding the election to post bond with the Circuit Court to cover the costs of the election within 5 days after the petition is found to be sufficient; amend KRS 160.210 to prohibit changes in the boundary of any division after June 1 in the year in which a school board member is to be elected; amend various statutes to conform; repeal KRS 118.551, relating to the definition of political party; EMERGENCY.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Apr 2026
House Passage
Apr 2026
Senate Passage
Apr 2026
Signed into Law
Apr 2026
Introduced Jan 7, 2026
Signed Apr 14, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Current/Final
·
3 edits
MINOR
The bill updates the voter registration purge program to clarify that data exchanges with other agencies must solely aim to remove ineligible voters, removing language that allowed investigating election offenses. It also expands the definition of 'inactive voters' to include those who fail to respond to out-of-county move notices and adds a requirement to maintain records of sent notices and responses for two years.
Scope change
The scope of data sharing agreements is narrowed to strictly voter list maintenance, and the scope of the inactive voter list is expanded to include non-responders to out-of-county move notices.
REQUIREMENT
Removed the provision allowing data exchanges for investigating election offenses, restricting data sharing solely to removing ineligible voters.
Added a requirement for the State Board of Elections and county boards to maintain records of sent notices and voter responses for at least two years.
ELIGIBILITY
Expanded the criteria for placing voters on an inactive list to include those who do not respond to notices regarding moves to addresses outside their current county.
Floor votes · House Feb 19, 2026
How they voted
This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
39
Key actions
14
Committee
11
Amendments
1
Apr 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
enrolled, signed by President of the Senate
upper
Apr 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House
lower
Apr 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
passed 32-6
lower
Apr 14, 2026
Vetoed
posted for passage for consideration of Governor's veto
lower
Apr 14, 2026
Committee
to Rules (S)
upper
Apr 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
passed 80-20
lower
Apr 14, 2026
Vetoed
veto overridden
lower
Apr 14, 2026
Vetoed
posted for consideration of Governor's veto
lower
Apr 14, 2026
Committee
to Rules (H)
lower
Apr 10, 2026
Vetoed
Vetoed
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Upper · Passed
enrolled, signed by President of the Senate
upper
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
passed 76-17
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
House concurred in Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Lower · Passed
posted for passage for concurrence in Senate Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 27, 2026
Committee
to Rules (H)
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 31-6 with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 2nd reading, to Rules with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Mar 16, 2026
Committee
to State & Local Government (S)
upper
Feb 20, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (S)
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 92-1 with Committee Substitute (1) and Floor Amendment (1)
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Introduced
floor amendment (1) filed to Committee Substitute
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Committee
to Elections, Const. Amendments & Intergovernmental Affairs (H)
lower
Jan 7, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (H)
lower
Jan 7, 2026
Introduced
introduced in House
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
No sponsor information available.
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