Kentucky legislation · 2026 Regular Session
Kentucky HB139: AN ACT relating to elections and declaring an emergency.
Status: Chaptered, April 14, 2026
Amend KRS 116.112 to allow the State Board of Elections to enter into intergovernmental agreements with other governmental agencies to exchange data to assist in investigating violations of election offenses; amend KRS 117.125 to require voting systems and equipment meet or exceed a standard approved by the Election Assistance Commission; amend KRS 117.145 to require that county clerks provide voting equipment with the necessary supplies for write-in votes on the day before any in-person voting occurs; amend KRS 117.265 to change the date a person running for President or Vice President must file a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate to the same deadline as the certification of candidates; amend KRS 117.355 to require county boards of elections to deliver signature rosters and precinct results to the State Board of Elections within 10 days after any primary or general election; amend KRS 117.379 to require voting systems meet a previously established Election Assistance Commission standard; amend KRS 117.389 to require county clerks to test automatic tabulating equipment after any petitions for local option elections have been filed; amend KRS 118.015 to change the definition of "political party"; amend KRS 118.125 to require that the notification and declaration be in the form prescribed by the Secretary of State; amend KRS 118.129 to allow a contraction as an acceptable form of a candidate's name; amend KRS 118.165 to require that candidates for Commonwealth's Attorney file nomination papers with the Secretary of State; amend KRS 118.315 to require that the form of petition be prescribed by the Secretary of State; amend KRS 118.367 to specify that candidates for a special election or election for an unexpired term shall not be required to file a statement-of-candidacy form; require that the statement-of-candidacy form be prescribed by the Secretary of State; amend KRS 118A.060 to require that the petition for nomination be in the form prescribed by th
What the bill says
An act relating to elections and declaring an emergency.
From the engrossed text:
AN ACT relating to elections and declaring an emergency. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: Section 1. KRS 116.112 is amended to read as follows: (1) The State Board of Elections shall establish a voter registration purge program using the change-of-address information supplied by the United States Postal Service through its licensees or other sources to identify voters whose addresses may have changed. The State Board of Elections is authorized to enter into agreements with other governmental agencies to further voter list maintenance practices. Intergovernmental agreements for the exchanging of any data shall be permitted if the[ sole] purpose of exchanging data is to remove ineligible voters. The data shall not be subject to any commercial use, directly or indirectly, or thirdparty access to the voter registration system. (2) (a) If it appears from information provided by the postal service or other sources that a voter has moved to a different address in the same county in which the voter is currently registered, the State Board of Elections shall provide to the county board of elections the information necessary to change the registration records to show the new address and the State Board of Elections shall send to the new address a notice of the change by forwardable mail on a form prescribed by …
Sponsors
- Jennifer Decker (R, HD-058) · primary sponsor
- Nick Wilson (R, HD-082)
- George Brown (D, HD-077)
- Daniel Grossberg (D, HD-030)
- John Hodgson (R, HD-036)
- DJ Johnson (R, HD-013)
- T.J. Roberts (R, HD-066)
Latest actions
- : delivered to Secretary of State (Acts Ch. 175)
- : enrolled, signed by President of the Senate
- : enrolled, signed by Speaker of the House
- : passed 32-6
- : posted for passage for consideration of Governor's veto
- : to Rules (S)
- : received in Senate
- : passed 80-20
- : veto overridden
- : posted for consideration of Governor's veto
Votes
- Senate: OVERRIDE VETO FINAL PASSAGE HB 139 RSN# 4165 (April 14, 2026): 32 yea, 6 nay, passed
- House: Veto Override RCS# 459 (April 14, 2026): 80 yea, 20 nay, passed
- House: Final Passage RCS# 365 (March 31, 2026): 76 yea, 17 nay, passed
- Senate: PASS HB 139 w/ SCS 1 (SCS 1) RSN# 4025 (March 26, 2026): 31 yea, 6 nay, passed
- House: Pass RCS# 118 (February 19, 2026): 92 yea, 1 nay, passed
Subjects: State Agencies, Elections And Voting, Education, Elementary And Secondary, Effective Dates, Emergency, Secretary Of State, Local Mandate, Attorney, Commonwealth's, Counties
Common questions
- What is HB139?
- HB139 is a bill in the Kentucky Legislature (2026 Regular Session): AN ACT relating to elections and declaring an emergency.
- What does HB139 do?
- In its own words: An act relating to elections and declaring an emergency.
- What is the status of HB139?
- Chaptered as of April 14, 2026. Latest action: delivered to Secretary of State (Acts Ch. 175) (April 14, 2026).
- Who sponsored HB139?
- Jennifer Decker (R, HD-058), with 6 co-sponsors.
- Where is the official record for HB139?
- On the Kentucky Legislature website: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/26rs/hb139.html
Source: official Kentucky record. Tracked by Delilah, AI for legislation across all 50 states and Congress.