Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams testified Monday afternoon before the House Administration Committee as it held a hearing on the elections clause of the U.S. Constitution. Adams touted Kentucky’s 2020 elections before the committee ‒ which has jurisdiction over federal election legislation ‒ and urged Congress to allow elected officials to govern at the local level.

“Our politics has grown increasingly harsh, even dangerous, the more our big decisions are federalized rather than resolved at the state and local levels,” Adams said.

Adams stated that Kentucky’s 2020 elections were the most secure in the state’s history. Still, he reported that people angry about the changes subjected his office to what he called “a national campaign of harassment and hate.” A bipartisan bill Governor Andy Beshear signed into law in April permanently instituted many of the provisions Kentucky used in the 2020 election, including early in-person voting, countywide voting centers, and absentee ballot drop-off boxes.

Adams told members of the committee, “Our phones were clogged with angry callers from Washington, D.C., California, and New York cursing at us.” He insisted, “Kentuckians knew better how to run an election in Kentucky than did the national media or national politicians.”

Adams encouraged Congress to focus on bipartisan solutions. “Bipartisanship not only leads to a better product, with concerns on both sides accommodated; it also shows voters on both sides that the rules are not being rigged to favor one party over another.”

Adams primary focused on the need for local decision-making. “Kentucky knows best what’s best for Kentucky,” he concluded. “I would urge you to let Kentucky be Kentucky.”