By Associated Press
FRANKFORT, Ky. -- – The Senate has passed legislation that would allow registered independents to vote in Democratic and Republican primaries.
The proposal, championed by Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, was approved 23-13 on Thursday.
Higdon said the legislation, if approved by the House and signed into law by the governor, would allow some 200,000 independent voters to take part in Kentucky's primary elections. They could only vote for candidates of one party, not switch between the two.
Similar measures in the past have failed because of concern that voters from one party might register as independents to affect the outcome of the other party's primary.
Higdon's proposal sets a Dec. 31 deadline for registering independents to discourage that from happening.