By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams spoke to the Grayson Area Chamber of Commerce last week, explaining the duties associated with his office, and how they relate to keeping accurate records for the Commonwealth.
“I’m literally the secretary of the state,” Adams told the Chamber, noting his primary role as a record keeper for any and all state records.
But those roles go beyond the typical record keeping, to include – he explained – recording and making content available for business registration.
Adams said they saw a big uptick in new small business registrations in the early days of the pandemic up through the easing of lockdown restrictions, as those sidelined by the virus began exploring their own entrepreneurial dreams. But while he expected to see a serious decline in the number of businesses, or “a big crash” as he termed it, as we came out of the pandemic and people returned to their previous jobs, those numbers have stayed high.
“I hope this means we’re seeing a new entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
He said the shift his office has seen could mean the state isn’t completely at the mercy of big business when it comes to business growth, instead developing a healthier mix of small and large business growth.
Adams also discussed his role as the chief election official for the state, and the growth of voter access during and after the pandemic. He said expanded voting access, including early voting, had allowed many more people to participate in the process. He noted that it also had a historical precedent. Originally, he said, Kentuckians had four days to vote. That was dialed back to a single day in the 1850s. But, he said, the legislature always had the power to expand voting access.
“It just took us 170 years to do it,” he joked.
He said that expanded voting access was just one example of bipartisan efforts in the government that benefited all Kentuckians.
“That spirit has enabled early voting efforts,” he said.
Regardless of whether you vote early, or on election day proper, Adams encouraged voters to “do what’s best for you.”
Early voting opportunities, he said, have been a “huge accomplishment for our state, and I encourage you to take advantage of it.”
He also addressed the role of early voting in curbing voter fraud.
“When votes are spread out,” he said, “it makes voter fraud harder.”
So the efforts to expand voting not only make it more accessible, they also make elections more fair, he claimed.
He also discussed moves to help fund new voting machines and equipment to provide a proper paper trail for elections, and misconceptions about electronic voting machines. Those machines, he said, were never connected to the internet, but new legislation makes it illegal to do so, a move that he hopes reassures voters of the security of their ballot.
He also discussed moves to protect domestic violence and stalking victims from risking exposure to abusers through voting records by allowing them to use the capital in Frankfort as their voting address, and his authority to veto local election plans that he feels cut too many election locations or otherwise include elements that could restrict voting.
But, he said, those efforts from his office only go so far. What counties really need to expand election access is more people willing to become poll workers.
He encouraged anyone with the availability and time to volunteer to be a poll worker, and for all Kentuckians to register to vote, or to check their voter registration status, online at govote.ky.gov. They can also use that portal to request an absentee ballot, he noted.
In other Chamber news the extension agency gave notice of a tree give-away, through the soil conservation district but at the extension office, on April 21, and Kathy Oney with Mountain Comprehensive Care gave an update of new facility locations, and Crystal Damron was announced as the Chamber’s new secretary.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
