FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — President Donald Trump pledged to issue an executive order aimed at eliminating mail-in ballots and voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. This comes as the Department of Justice has sent broad requests for voter rolls to states, including Kentucky.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams says Trump's proposed changes wouldn't significantly impact the Commonwealth's voting procedures.
"It won't impact Kentucky directly," Adams said.
"Number one - we don't vote by mail. We vote in person. And number two - we don't have voting machines, as I think the president was referring to. We have paper ballots in Kentucky that we vote on by a pen," Adams said.
While some states conduct most of their voting by mail, Kentucky does not. According to Adams, only about 2% of Kentucky voters cast absentee ballots by mail, even though many more qualify for this option.
Kentuckians generally vote in person, according to Adams. The state has even expanded in-person voting days in recent years.
Kentucky has also moved away from voting machines to paper ballots.
While Adams isn't concerned about changing Kentucky's voting methods before the next election, he says he is working to determine how to respond to the Department of Justice's request to inspect Kentucky's voter rolls.
"I expect that we'll cooperate fully with the Administration, as long as we are able to comply with the law in doing so. We do have some questions about what fields of information we're allowed to turn over under federal law. There are federal laws that address providing driver's license data, providing social security numbers. Those things are private information," Adams said.
Adams emphasized that voter rolls are already public records that candidates regularly request and access in Kentucky. While the information can be viewed, it cannot be altered.
"They can inspect it, but they can't change it. They can't alter it," Adams said.
Regarding specific election information, Kentucky is required by federal law to preserve all election records for 22 months. However, Adams notes that these records are anonymized, protecting voter privacy.
"We don't have who you voted for or who I voted for. No record is kept of that. No one knows. It's all secret, as it should be. That's in our constitution," Adams said.
Adams added that these preserved election records have not been requested by the Department of Justice.
