{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-117.125","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 117.125","heading":"Voting system or voting equipment -- Specifications and features required","body":"for approval.\n(1) A voting system or voting equipment shall be approved for use by the State Board\nof Elections, either upon initial examination or reexaminat ion, and voting\nequipment or a voting system shall not be purchased unless the system and\nequipment has been certified under KRS 117.379 and is so constructed that it shall:\n(a) Ensure secrecy to the voter in the act of voting so that no person can see or\nknow for whom any other voter has voted or is voting, except for those voters\nrequiring assistance under KRS 117.255;\n(b) Permit votes to be cast for any candidate entitled to have his or her name\nprinted upon the ballots at any primary, regular election, or special election,\nand for or against any public question entitled to be placed upon the ballots;\n(c) Except at a primary, permit a voter to vote for all the candidates of one (1)\nparty or for one (1) or more candidates of every party having candidates\nentitled to be voted for, or for one (1) or more independent, political\norganization, or political group candidates;\n(d) Permit a voter to vote for as many persons for an office as the voter is\nlawfully entitled to vote for, and no more;\n(e) Prevent a voter  from voting for more persons for any office than the voter is\nentitled to vote for, and from voting for the same person, or for or against the\nsame question, more than once;\n(f) Permit a voter to vote for or against any question the voter may have the rig ht\nto vote on, but no other;\n(g) Provide for a nonpartisan ballot;\n(h) Be capable of being adjusted for use in a primary so that a voter may not vote\nfor any person except those seeking nomination as candidates of the voter's\nparty, as candidates for a non partisan office, or as candidates for an office of\nthe Court of Justice;\n(i) Permit each voter to vote for all the candidates for presidential electors of any\nparty by one (1) operation;\n(j) Permit each voter to vote, in any regular or special election, for any person for\nwhom the voter desires to vote whose name does not appear upon the ballot\nby providing a method of write-in voting;\n(k) Be safe, efficient, and accurate in the conduct of ele ctions, and correctly\nregister and accurately count all votes cast for each person, and for or against\neach public question;\n(l) 1. Provide each voter an opportunity to verify votes recorded on the\npermanent paper ballot, either visually or using assistive  voting\ntechnology, by producing a voter-verified paper audit trail;\n2. Provide each voter an opportunity to change votes or correct any error\nbefore the voter's ballot is cast and counted; and\n3. Provide a voter who spoils his or her ballot another ballot  as provided\nunder this chapter;\n(m) Use an individual, discrete, permanent, paper ballot cast by the voter for\ntabulating purposes;\n(n) Preserve the paper ballot as an official record available for use in any audit or\nrecount;\n(o) Be suitably designed for  the purpose used, constructed of a durable material,\nand safely transportable;\n(p) Be capable of determining whether the voting equipment has been unlocked\nand operated or adjusted in any manner after once being locked;\n(q) Have a public counter with a re gister which is visible from the outside of the\ncounter or device that will show at all times during an election how many\npersons have voted;\n(r) Have a protective cumulative counter indicating the number of votes cast for\neach person, and the votes cast f or or against each public question which\ncannot be seen, reset, or tampered with without unlocking a covering device\nby a key or other security apparatus that cannot unlock any other part of the\nequipment, and which prevents changes to the cumulative count er once the\nsystem has been put into operation on the day of any election;\n(s) Provide for the tabulating of votes at the precinct as required under KRS\n117.275;\n(t) Provide locks or other security apparatus by which the operation of the voting\nequipment may be locked before the time for opening the polls and after the\ntime for closing the polls;\n(u) Permit a voter to readily learn the method of operating it, to expeditiously cast\na vote for all candidates and on all questions of the voter's choice, and whe n\noperated properly, register and record correctly and accurately every vote\ncast;\n(v) Bear a number or other unique designation that will distinguish it from any\nother voting equipment or voting system;\n(w) Produce a real -time audit log record for the vot ing system, and produce a\npaper record with a manual audit capacity which shall be available as an\nofficial record for any recount conducted related to any primary or election in\nwhich the system is used;\n(x) Be accessible for individuals with impairments,  including nonvisual\naccessibility for the blind or visually impaired, in a manner that provides the\nsame opportunity for access and participation, including privacy and\nindependence, as for other voters;\n(y) Prohibit voting equipment that tabulates or agg regates votes used in official\nresults from connecting to any network, including the internet, or\ncommunicating with any device external to the voting system;\n(z) Prohibit voting equipment that utilizes nonhuman readable codes, including\nbut not limited to  barcodes, QR codes, or other encrypted markings, to\nrepresent or tabulate a voter's choices;\n(aa) Meet or exceed a standard for a voting system approved by the Election\nAssistance Commission and approved under KRS 117.379; and\n(ab) Meet such other require ments as may be established by the State Board of\nElections in administrative regulations promulgated in accordance with KRS\nChapter 13A to reflect changes in technology to ensure the integrity and\nsecurity of voting systems.\n(2) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, continued use of\na voting system and all voting equipment that was approved for use by the State\nBoard of Elections as of April 14, 2026, and was utilized by a county before April\n14, 2026, shall be allowed until s uch time as a replacement voting system is\nacquired by the county.","path":["KRS Chapter 117"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56992","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:12Z","sha256":"944740458c421917f5a5185927e21ae47379dc5e8dcb782d6c3414d4c7955468","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-117.120","next":"us-ky/krs-117.130"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}