Published: April 09, 2008 02:46 pm            

Some voters' rights forfeited

April 9, 2008 — Kentucky voters who switched their party affiliation after the first of the year will forfeit the ability to vote in the partisan primaries in the May election.

In fact, across the state nearly 9,000 voters changed parties and that number is already equal to the total number of party switches in 2007, reported Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

Carter County Clerk Mike Johnston said the same goes for voters in Carter County where 75 to 100 citizens have changed their party.

“Some have switched and they were told they would not be able to vote until November,” Johnston commented. “I’m sure there are some who we may have missed telling this to, and they might get upset when they discover they can’t vote in May. But, it was stated on the form, so I hope they read it correctly before deciding to switch parties.”

Although, Johnston said, in the Carter County area the many who switched parties were independent voters and would not have been able to vote in the May primary.

In Grayson’s report, he said many states have received national media attention due to accusations of “party raiding,” the act of voters switching political parties to vote in the upcoming primary election in an effort to sway the results of a particular election.

Another reminder Grayson has for voters is if they have moved recently, they need to update their voter registration, so they are allowed to vote on election day. In particular, if a voter has moved from one county to another prior to the voter registration books closing and he or she does not update his or her voter registration, that voter will not be allowed to vote in the primary election.

Many third-party registration groups are in Kentucky now and are trying to register voters, Grayson noted. There have been some complaints to the State Board of Elections about some of these voter registration efforts. Most voter registration efforts are very helpful, but sometimes those efforts can confuse voters, Grayson said.

For example, one voter registration group has been sending voter registration cards and letters to citizens stating they are not registered to vote, when in fact, many of those citizens are registered. Grayson asks that voters take time to check their voter registration at www.vote.ky.gov/vic at the Voter Information Center.

In addition, anyone 17 years old, who will be 18 on or before the Nov. 4 general election, are eligible to register for the May 20 primary election.

Voters have until April 22 to register to vote. To determine voter registration status or to find out more about the upcoming election visit www.vote.ky.gov.

        

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