In 2006, Kentuckians will face an unprecedented number of races on the ballot -- 4,231 to be exact.  While the sheer number of races alone will pose challenges for election officials, several federal mandates from the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) with 2006 deadlines are placing even more pressure on election officials as they prepare for next year.

To meet this challenge, elections officials are working diligently in the “off” year to ensure that Kentucky continues to be a national leader in election administration -- a position earned by many years of effort by past Secretaries of State, State Board of Elections (SBE) members and staff, and hundreds of county clerks and county boards of election members.  As a result, many states around the country have turned to Kentucky for guidance about how to implement portions of HAVA in their states. 

For 2006, most of the remaining HAVA mandates center on insuring accessibility for all voters in the election process.  These mandates strengthen the existing polling place accessibility requirements set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act and existing Kentucky law. 

To improve polling place accessibility, the SBE, through federal funds, partnered with the Kentucky Disabilities Coalition and county clerks to survey the accessibility of all polling place locations in the Commonwealth.  As a result, many changes are in the works before next year’s elections.  A number of counties are modifying their polling sites to make them fully accessible.  Others simply are moving them to sites that are already accessible such as schools. 

While some of these changes may not prove to be initially popular with a few citizens simply because of their reluctance to change, the end result will allow for a greater number of citizens to have unfettered access to the democratic process.  The work that counties have completed thus far demonstrates the power of partnerships and the positive outlook for Kentucky to meet these mandates.

In addition to polling place accessibility, another major HAVA deadline looms for counties -- the requirement to have accessible voting machines in every polling place location by January 1, 2006.  State and local officials are working diligently to meet this requirement.

Because the SBE’s Executive Director, Sarah Ball Johnson, and I hold several national leadership positions, we are in a unique position to hold extensive discussions with our national peers, the United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC), and other experts in election administration.  This has allowed us to develop a proactive and steady approach to this issue.  Although hurdles remain, Kentucky will be fully compliant with this mandate. 

To assist in this process, we have been traveling to many statewide conferences during the past few months to explain the HAVA mandates and how Kentucky plans to comply with EAC standards.  Unfortunately, the EAC got a late start in developing these standards due to delays in its initial funding and staffing.  (In fact, as of publication, the standards were not final.)  The delays, however, did not alter the January 1, 2006 deadline by which the counties must have these new machines in place. 

The ability to meet these deadlines would not be possible without the leadership of Senator Mitch McConnell, one of HAVA’s primary authors, and the rest of our federal delegation in helping to secure the funding necessary to meet HAVA’s mandates.  Kentucky received $37 million to implement these mandates, and the General Assembly provided the required 5% state match.

The State Board of Elections has authorized HAVA funds to allow every Kentucky county to purchase a new machine for every precinct, including a machine for in-house absentee voting use, with little, if any, additional financial burden on the counties.  In addition, nine counties will receive funding to replace the old lever machines that were still in use at some of their precincts. 

The next few months will be very hectic for our election administrators throughout the state.  My office and the SBE stand ready to assist in any way that we can.  Enough cannot be said of the county fiscal courts and clerks for their continued dedication and commitment to a free and fair election process in Kentucky.  With their help, Kentucky will continue to be a national model for election administration.