The Kentucky legislature adjourned on March 13 without passing any election law bills of interest.

Among bills that failed to pass were: (1) HB 170, the National Popular Vote bill; (2) SB 23, which would have expanded the terms of state representatives from 2 years to 4 years; (3) HB 17, which would have let independent voters vote in party primaries (with no provision for the party to indicate a preference on that matter); (4) SB 124, which would have moved the primary from May to August; (5) HB 217, which would have provided for statewide initiatives.

Even one of the Secretary of State’s omnibus election law bills, HB 201, failed to pass. Among other things, it would have provided that members of unqualified parties could vote in nonpartisan elections that coincide with party primaries. Currently, independent voters can vote for nonpartisan matters in party primaries, but strictly speaking, people who are registered members of unqualified parties may not. HB 201 had passed the House but the Senate didn’t vote on it.