KENTUCKY — On this week’s In Focus Kentucky program, we’re sitting down with Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Ky. He is the Commonwealth’s 86th Secretary of State and the 77th person to serve in the elected position. The Secretary of State’s office oversees business filings in the state, public notary commissions, election information and much more.

“But I do kind of tip my hat to the fact that I want to elevate this office. I want to talk about a lot more than just being the elections guy. I want to talk about the other challenges that we face. And that’s why, for example, you’re seeing me talk about enhanced civic education,” shared Adams.

Also during this segment, Adams comments on legislative bills that are moving through the Kentucky General Assembly, including House Bill 341, which would allow Kentuckians to vote on a constitutional amendment aimed at closing a loophole that could allow non-citizens to vote in elections; Senate Bill 80 would remove college-issued student ID cards from the list of primary documents to verify a voter’s identity and Senate Bill 10, which proposes a constitutional amendment allowing Kentucky elections for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and other constitutional officers, in even-numbered years.

“I’m neutral on the bill. I typically stay neutral on stuff unless it has a direct impact on our office or on the election process itself. I will note, this is a bill that routinely is passed by the Senate and not passed by the House. And so I’ll leave that to the Senate and the House. But there are some pros and cons with any bill. I think the biggest pro is that it would save about $20 million, it wouldn’t really save me any money, but it would save county government money in just requiring them to have fewer elections. That means fewer rentals of polling locations and fewer poll workers to pay. So it would be a cost savings for the county government. So that’s a big upside for it. The downside is you’re also going to have a longer ballot. And you’re also going to have potentially a ballot that so long with everything from president to Congress, to legislature to county office to city office to dog catcher, judges, amendments, there just might be so much material, it’s hard for voters to be aware of all of it and hard for you in the media to cover all of it. So with anything, there’s pros and cons. And if the House does pass it after the Senate passes it and they send it to me, the Secretary of State to sign, I’ll certainly sign it. We’ll put it on the ballot for the voters to decide,” explained Adams.

You can watch the full In Focus Kentucky segment in the player above.