FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 14, 2016) – Kentuckians are now able to register to vote using the Commonwealth’s online voter registration portal at GoVoteKY.com, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced on Monday, March 14, 2016. Grimes also announced a key partnership between her office and Microsoft, which will assist in registering voters across the Commonwealth. A statewide GoVoteKY.com Tour will begin this week to educate and register voters.
“Kentucky made history today. This is an amazing milestone for the Commonwealth,” said Grimes. “We’ve allowed paper to be taken out of the process. Every eligible Kentuckian may now go online to register to vote or update their registration with ease and speed.”
The portal, GoVoteKY.com, can be accessed via computer or smartphone. To register, a person must enter their name, Social Security number and birth date. As required by law, users must also provide their signature, digitally or via their driver’s license. The registrant’s information is sent to their county clerk’s office, which will process and approve each update or new registration and then send confirmation to the voter.
As part of the launch, Grimes announced a strategic and critical partnership with Microsoft.
“GoVoteKY.com is a positive achievement for all Kentucky voters, and Microsoft’s collaboration ensures that we will be able to reach all Kentuckians,” said Grimes.
Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw, who oversees registration in the state’s largest jurisdiction, has been an ardent supporter of Grimes’ online registration initiative.
“GoVoteKY.com is about convenience and accessibility for the voter and efficiency for government. It will speed up the registration process, ensure a more accurate voter registration process, and help us save thousands of taxpayer dollars,” said Holsclaw.
All five living former Kentucky Secretaries of State endorsed Grimes’ online voter registration proposal when she announced it last year.
“I commend Secretary Grimes’ work to make online registration a reality in Kentucky,” said George Russell, a member of the State Board of Elections. “When we started reporting election results online in the 1990s, we could only imagine where technology would take us. Online voter registration is a needed and transformative step for Kentucky elections.”
The State Board of Elections began the process of building the online registration portal last year. The Board’s information technology team built the portal at no extra cost to the Commonwealth.
Grimes will begin a statewide GoVoteKY.com tour on March 16 to educate and register voters prior to the April 18 voter registration deadline for the Primary Election. For information concerning the tour, please visit the Secretary of State’s website, sos.ky.gov.
