Piecing Together The New Voter ID Law

Following Mitch's Money, Presentation by Doug Price on June 1st, 2020

My article today is about trying to connect the dots as related to our new Voter ID law!

How did KY come to have a new Voter ID law? And how does Mitch McConnell figure into the equation?

In 2016 Mitch wrote a memoir and it is aptly named The Long Game. Originally cost $28.00. I bought the book for $5.65 and plan to do a future Mitch and Money utilizing passages from the book.

THE LONG GAME

Mitch has a University of Louisville program named after him called the Mitch McConnell Scholars Program.

It is my understanding that Mitch participates in teaching the Scholars and stresses all you need to know about politics can be summed up in 3 words: Money Money Money

The newly elected Secretary of State of Kentucky Michael Adams is a graduate of that program.

Michael Adams primary Campaign Promise was to enact a new Voter ID Law. During the campaign he said this law would stop voter fraud in Kentucky.

During the 2019–2020 general session the KY Republican leaders introduced Senate Bill 2 — the Voter ID law.

During Legislative committee hearings Michael Adams was asked to provide proof of voter fraud and was unable to provide specific instances.

It is my belief that Mitch McConnell was behind the effort to introduce and pass SB 2.

Republican politicians across the country continue to promote Voter Fraud as being rampant and of course this also comes from the top as President Trump continually tweets Fake News related to this matter.

Senate Bill 2 was given this number by Senate Leadership indicating this was the second most important bill the Republicans wanted passed during the 2020 General Session. The primary Sponsor was Senator Robby Mills. There were multiple other sponsors:

D. Thayer, R. Alvarado, D. Carroll, M. Castlen, C. Embry Jr., R. Girdler, S. Meredith, M. Nemes, S. West, P. Wheeler, M. Wilson, M. Wise These sponsors represent over 50 of our KY Counties.

Notably absent are Tom Buford, David Givens, Jimmy Higdon, Whitney Westerfield, Stan Humphries, Albert Robinson, Brandon Smith, and Robert Stivers

I wonder why Robby Mills was assigned as Primary Sponsor of the 2nd most important KY Senate bill of the 2020 General Session? He is a first term Senator from the Henderson KY area who rode the coattails of Trump in the last election, defeating incumbent Dorsey Ridley.

Senator Mills received substantial support from the Kentucky Republican Party including a little over $112,000 for in-kind services from the Kentucky State Republican Committee and an additional $73,000 from the Senate Republican Caucus Campaign Committee. Essentially these funds allowed Mills to receive money to flood the area with ads in an effort to elect Mills. Trump won Henderson County with 62% of the vote. I understand the advertising blitz centered on issues noting Mills would be in lock step with Trump. The election was close as Mills won by under 500 votes.

One of the In-Kind expense donation totaled $59,850.52 and was reported by the Mills campaign on October 23, 2018. On October 24, 2018 the National Republican Committee donated $50,000 to the Kentucky State Republican Committee.

I would guess even if this was a pre-arranged transfer of funds that it is not against the law but does seem a little fishy to me.

Did Mitch orchestrate all of this? I guess we will never know. According to his memoir he is concerned about The Long Game

Unrelated to this issue but important to note:

Please make sure that you are up to date on how to vote this coming June 23rd! Go to govoteky.com

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the Board of Elections, The Sec of State and the Governor to change the original May primary date to June 23rd. Fortunately, all of these came together to figure out that absentee Balloting via mail would be needed during the pandemic. It is my hope this will lead to mail-in balloting in the future. Other states have mail-in balloting and have seen an increase in the number of people voting. I would think any sane person would want more people to vote! But not the Republicans — the Voter Suppression Party.

Doug Price is a member/treasurer of the MMRC and a regular participant on the #MoscowMitchMonday live stream, discussing Mitch and Money. Doug is an advocate of governmental change on the State/Federal level and has periodically worked on Democratic campaigns dating back to the 80s. Follow Doug on Twitter @ PriceDoug