Senate advances bill related to secondary voter IDs at the polls February 20, 2026 Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, speaks on Senate Bill 154, which limits what counts as acceptable secondary ID at the polls, on the Senate floor. A high-resolution photo can be found here. FRANKFORT — Legisl ation that would remove Social Security cards and food stamp cards as secondary identification options for voters lacking standard photo IDs advanced in the Senate on Friday. Senate Bill 154, sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, would restrict acceptable forms of secondary identification for voters unable to provide standard photo ID to those that include a photograph, eliminating non-photo alternatives. “Currently, in the state of Kentucky, a person that comes to the polls that does not have one of the four approved methods of verifying their identification with a photograph can sign an affidavit, and provide additional forms of ID, two of which that do not require a photograph,” Tichenor said. “This bill will strike those two measures, ensuring that people who come to vote in Kentucky elections have photo ID to verify their identification.” The Senate voted 31-7 to pass the bill out of the chamber following a moderate floor debate over election security and voter access. Senate Minority Whip Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, said that the bill would make it harder for rural Kentuckians who have difficulties obtaining photo ID to vote. “I listened when I heard members of this chamber say that in rural Kentucky, it’s really hard to get a driver’s license,” she said. “There are transportation barriers. You shouldn’t give up your ability to participate in civic democracy for that reason.” Senate Democratic Floor Leader Gerald A. Neal, D-Louisville, said that the bill was trying to solve an issue that does not exist in the state. “My research does not reveal almost any voter fraud anywhere, including Kentucky,” he said. “It just appears to me that we are trying to cure a problem that does not exist, except that it does have a disparate impact on certain populations that we would like to participate in this process.” Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, said that the bill was necessary even if there was not major proof that Kentucky was not a state with widespread voter fraud. “It reminds me of the accounting profession… you know what the best form of embezzlement is? The embezzlement that has not yet been discovered,” he said. “Has fraud been broad? I do not know. But why wouldn’t we want reasonable safeguards in place to ensure that it does not happen.” Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, recounted instances of voter fraud in the state that he could remember, and said the legislation was needed for the integrity of Kentucky’s democracy. “Voter fraud happens. I’ve called out four or five instances here in this state, since I have been in this chamber,” he said. “But for the sake of democracy, all it takes is a photo ID. Why not have that one simple thing?” Tichenor, after casting her vote, said that the bill was another means by which Kentucky would root out fraud in its elections. “This bill is another way to eliminate any potential for fraud in our elections, and ensure that my vote does not get cancelled out by someone else who does not have a right to vote,” she said. SB 154 now moves to the House. The post Senate advances bill related to secondary voter IDs at the polls appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less