Kentucky Representative Buddy Wheatley (D-Covington) has introduced two bills that affect who can vote in partisan primary elections. HB 193 would ease the deadline for a voter to switch parties. Current law requires voters to have joined a party by December 31 of the preceding year if they wish to vote in that party’s primary. HB 113 would allow an independent voter to choose a partisan primary ballot.

Representative Wheatley is also the author of the bill to eliminate the straight-ticket device, HB 70. None of these three bills has made any headway so far this year. They were all introduced in January.