State Representative Vanessa Grossl joined military veterans and election reform advocates in Louisville on Tuesday to spotlight Kentucky’s exclusion of independent voters from publicly funded primary elections, a visibility event organized on the same day as the state’s primary election. The e vent at The Original Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market drew attention to the nearly 380,000 Kentucky voters, about 11 percent of the electorate, registered under “other” political affiliations, mostly Independent, said in a press release from the Kentucky House Majority Caucus. “Kentucky’s independent voters are taxpayers, veterans, parents, and engaged citizens who deserve the opportunity to have their voices heard,” Grossl said in a statement. “My legislation would give political parties the option to invite independent voters to participate in their primary elections while preserving each party’s authority to make that decision for itself.” The gathering, which included Veterans for All Voters and Let Us Vote Kentucky, was timed to highlight the impact of Kentucky’s “closed primary” system, where voters must be registered with a political party to vote in primary elections. The event took place across from an active polling location in Louisville. Grossl introduced House Bill 874 during the 2026 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, which would take effect in December 2027 — after the next statewide elections for constitutional officers, including the governorship. Under the proposal, political parties could choose each election cycle whether to allow registered independent voters to participate in their primary elections. The idea of opening primaries has an important ally in Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, the state’s top election official, who previously told the Kentucky Lantern that he favors allowing independent voters to choose which primary to vote in. Daniel Collins, Kentucky state leader for Veterans for All Voters, said in a statement the issue is rooted in fairness and representation. Veterans for All Voters is building a movement around practical, nonpartisan reforms that strengthen voter participation, accountability, and representation across the country. For more information about the event, advocates said interested parties could visit the Veterans for All Voters website. This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) from a press release emailed to [email protected] by Kentucky House Majority Caucus, enriched with 3 web searches. The post Grossl Joins Veterans, Reformers to Highlight Primary Access Gap appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less