 Participation in our Safe at Home program has doubled since the expanded program went into effect at the end of June. Safe at Home helps survivors of certain crimes - including sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, and stalking - to safely hide their address on voter rolls and other public records.
Safe at Home has three main functions:
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Address substitution: Participants use the Secretary of State's address on all public records instead of their own.
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Mail forwarding: The Secretary of State's Office forwards mail to the participant's confidential address.
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Voter Registration: Participants are eligible to vote by absentee ballot.
Our new program removes the prior barrier of needing an emergency protective order to participate. Instead, participants provide a statement, under penalty of perjury, explaining their need to conceal their address. The expansion of Safe at Home also includes state and local government agencies, allowing participants to safely shield their addresses on various state and local public records beyond just the voter rolls.
You can learn more about the program, or apply, at sos.ky.gov.
Cleaning Up the Voter Rolls
In 2019, I promised that under my administration, we would remove from our rolls voters who have moved away, passed away, or been put away. More than 355,000 of such voters have been removed since I took office, including more than 183,000 deceased voters.
Civic Health Assessment
Over the past several months, we have been working to compile a Civic Health Assessment to see how civically literate Kentuckians are, where Kentuckians get their news, and how polarized we are as a state. There were some shining spots in the report but it also showed there is a lot of work to be done to get Kentuckians more civically literate. We will be releasing the full report in the coming months. Below is a sample of some of the findings.
We continue to see strong growth in the number of new Kentucky businesses. From January 1 through October 25, we have seen approximately 54,000 new LLCs and other business entities formed in Kentucky, bringing the total number of entities to more than 314,000.
E-Apostille
We continue to modernize our business office. In the coming months, we will roll out an e-Apostille program, which will allow Kentuckians to obtain apostilles remotely from the comfort of their home or even a foreign country. The e-Apostille will also include technology that will prevent forgery and provide relief from the risk of physical loss. This will be a game changer for working families who will no longer need to wait on mail to arrive or drive to Frankfort to certify official Kentucky records for international recognition.
Looking Ahead
The general election is fast approaching. Here are some important dates to know:
October 30-Nov 1: In-person absentee voting
Nov 2-4: No-excuse early voting
Nov. 7: Election Day
I encourage everyone to avoid any lines and vote early!
Information about polling locations and hours on early voting days can be found at govote.ky.gov.
Polls are open on Election Day from 6 am to 6 pm.
All voters need to bring their photo ID to vote.
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