skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Report says a second Trump term would add 4 billion tons of climate pollution; Trump predicts a bloodbath for the country if he is defeated in November's election; Nevada leaders discuss future of IVF, abortion in the Silver State; and anglers seek trawler buffer zone as Atlantic herring stock declines.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Voter Photo-ID Bill Clears KY Senate, Heads to House

play audio
Play

Friday, January 24, 2020   

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The Kentucky Senate has passed a bill that would require voters to present photo identification at the polls.

Senate Bill 2, sponsored by Republican Representatives Robby Mills of Henderson and Damon Thayer of Georgetown, now heads to the House for consideration.

Kentucky already has a law on books that requires an ID to vote, but it doesn't specify photo ID. And in many rural counties, a voter doesn't have to show any form of ID if the poll worker already knows them.

Corey Shapiro, legal director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky says it appears the bill is being fast-tracked.

"This legislation does not need to be rushed through," says Shapiro. "Currently, if passed, (it) would be implemented for the November 2020 election, which is an extremely important election. We have a presidential election; we have a senatorial election."

He adds the law would not be in effect for the state's primary election in May.

Sponsoring legislators says the bill is needed to ensure that people properly identify themselves at the polls and to prevent voter fraud. Critics of the bill point to research that in-person voter fraud is extremely rare.

Tanya Fogle, community organizer and democracy fellow with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, believes the legislation will be another obstacle to getting people out to vote, particularly among communities that might not have or need photo IDs.

"People of color, people who are living in poverty, poor people, the working-class poor - it is a big barrier," says Fogle.

In an amended version of the bill, an expired photo ID would be acceptable.

According to data from the Secretary of State's Office, Kentucky's gubernatorial election last fall had the highest voter turnout since the mid-1990s.




Disclosure: Kentuckians for the Commonwealth contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Civic Engagement, Energy Policy, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Environment

play sound

Recreational fishermen in New England say commercial trawlers are threatening the survival of smaller businesses relying on a healthy stock of Atlanti…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021