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Secretary of State Michael Adams said Kentucky has removed more than 212,000 dead voters from the voter rolls, since he took office, and has also weighed in on a federal business ruling.

“Removing over 200,000 dead voters from our rolls shows we are serious about election integrity in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Adams said.

Even with a recent, sustained increase in voter registration, in February more voters were removed from the rolls (15,982) than added (7,494).

Of those removed in February, 15,125 were deceased; roughly 11,000 were removed after the Secretary of State requested that the Office of Vital Statistics provide a comprehensive list of deaths since 1911. Also removed in February were 354 voters who moved out of state, 311 who were convicted of felonies, 110 voters voluntarily de-registered, 54 voters adjudged mentally incompetent, and 28 duplicate registrations. 

Republican registrants account for just over 46 percent of the electorate, with 1,610,113 voters. Republican registration decreased by 1,647 voters, a .10 percent decrease. Democratic registrants make up just over 43 percent of the electorate, with 1,512,752 voters. Democratic registration dropped by 7,911 voters, a .52 percent decrease. There are 360,450 voters registered as Other, just over 10 percent of the electorate. “Other” registration increased by 1,070 voters, a .30 percent increase.

Adams is also alerting Kentucky businesses of a ruling by a U.S. federal court enjoining the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) for certain business owners.

A U.S. District Court in Alabama struck down the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Beneficial Ownership Information (BIO) Reporting requirement as unconstitutional.

FinCEN interpreted the ruling to only apply to members of the National Small Business Association (NSBA), despite the court saying the rule was unconstitutional to all businesses. This means millions of small business owners that are not members of the NSBA are still required to do BOI reporting.

Adams said he has opposed this requirement since it was first proposed. “Despite my vociferous objections to this draconian mandate on small businesses, the Biden Administration forged ahead. Now, despite a court ruling saying it violates the Constitution, this Administration is still hellbent on punishing job creators.”

Failure to comply with BOI reporting could result in criminal prosecution, punishable by up to 2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

There are less than 800 members of NSBA in Kentucky.