KRS § 117.001 — KY Code / Title X / Chapter 117 / Section 117.001
117.001 Definitions for chapter
Status: in_force

117.001 Definitions for chapter.

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Audit log" means a detailed record of all actions and events that have occurred on

the voting system, including:

(a) Log-in attempts with username and time stamp;

(b) Election definition and setup;

(c) Ballot preparation and results processing;

(d) Diagnostics of any type; and

(e) Error and warning messages and operator response;

(2) "Automatic tabulating equipment" means apparatus necessary to automatically

examine and count votes as designated on ballots and data processing machines

which can be used for counting ballots and tabulating results;

(3) "Ballot" or "official ballot" means the official presentation of offices and candidates

to be voted for, including write-in candidates, and all public questions submitted for

determination, and shall include a voting machine ballot, a paper ballot, an absentee

ballot, a federal provisional ballot, a federal provisional absentee ballot, or a

supplemental paper ballot which has been authorized for the use of voters in any

primary, regular election, or special election by the Secretary of State or the county

clerk;

(4) "Ballot box" means any box, bag, or other container that can be locked, sealed, or

otherwise rendered tamper-resistant, for receiving ballots;

(5) "Ballot marking device" means any approved device for marking a ballot which

will enable the ballot to be tabulated manually or by means of automatic tabulating

equipment;

(6) "Election" or "elections" means any primary, regular election, or special election;

(7) "Election officer" has the same meaning as in KRS 118.015;

(8) (a) "Electioneering communication" means any communication broadcast by

cable, internet, television, or radio, presented on an electronic billboard, made

in telephone calls to personal residences, or otherwise electronically

distributed that:

1. Unambiguously refers to any candidate for any state, county, city, or

district office, or to any ballot measure;

2. Is broadcast, printed, mailed, delivered, made, or distributed within

forty-five (45) days before a primary or regular election; and

3. Is broadcast to, distributed to, in telephone calls made to, or otherwise

distributed to an audience that includes members of the electorate for

such public office or the electorate associated with the ballot containing

the ballot measure.

(b) "Electioneering communication" does not include:

1. Any news articles, editorial endorsements, opinions or commentary,

writings, or letters to the editor printed in a newspaper, magazine, or

other periodical not owned or controlled by a candidate, committee, or

political party;

2. Any editorial endorsements or opinions aired by a broadcast facility not

owned or controlled by a candidate, committee, or political party;

3. Any communication by persons made in the regular course and scope of

their business or any communication made by a membership

organization solely to members of such an organization and their

families;

4. Any communication that refers to any candidate only as part of the

popular name of a bill or statute;

5. A communication that constitutes a contribution or independent

expenditure as defined in KRS 121.015; or

6. A bona fide newscast, news interview, news documentary, or on-the-

spot coverage of a bona fide news event broadcast on any radio or

television broadcasting station, including a cable or satellite television

operator, programmer, or producer, that is not owned or controlled by a

candidate, committee, or political party, provided that the entity does not

remove or modify any disclaimer provided by the sponsor of the

communication;

(9) "E-poll book" means an electronic device capable of holding a file of voter data and

related information for use in identifying registered voters prior to a voter's

receiving or casting a ballot, and allowing a voter to electronically sign in on an

electronic registered voter roster in lieu of signing a paper registered voter roster;

(10) "Federal provisional voter" means a person:

(a) Who does not appear to be registered to vote;

(b) Whose name does not appear on the precinct roster;

(c) Who has not provided proof of identification to the precinct election officer

before voting in a federal election; and

(d) Who elects to proceed with voting a federal provisional ballot under KRS

117.229;

(11) "Federal provisional ballot" or "federal provisional absentee ballot" means ballots

which have been authorized by the Secretary of State or the county clerk to be used

by federal provisional voters in any federal primary or election;

(12) "Information content provider" means any person or entity that is responsible, in

whole or in part, for the creation or development of information provided through

the internet or any other interactive computer service;

(13) "Inner envelope" or "secrecy envelope" means the envelope provided to the voter

with a ballot into which the voter shall place his or her voted ballot;

(14) "Interactive computer service":

(a) Means any information service, system, or access software provider that

provides or enables computer access by multiple users to a computer server,

including specifically a service or system that provides access to the internet

and such services offered or systems operated by libraries or educational

institutions; and

(b) Does not include exemptions in the Communications Decency Act of 1996, as

amended, 47 U.S.C. sec. 230;

(15) "Political group" has the same meaning as in KRS 118.015;

(16) "Political organization" has the same meaning as in KRS 118.015;

(17) "Precinct ballot counter" means an automatic tabulating device used at the precinct

to tabulate and process ballots;

(18) "Proof of identification" means a document that was issued by:

(a) The United States or the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the document

contains:

1. The name of the individual to whom the document was issued; and

2. A photograph of the individual to whom the document was issued;

(b) The United States Department of Defense, a branch of the uniformed services,

the Merchant Marine, or the Kentucky National Guard, and the document

contains:

1. The name of the individual to whom the document was issued; and

2. A photograph of the individual to whom the document was issued;

(c) A public or private college, university, or postgraduate technical or

professional school located within the United States, and the document

contains:

1. The name of the individual to whom the document was issued; and

2. A photograph of the individual to whom the document was issued; or

(d) Any city government, county government, urban-county government, charter

county government, consolidated local government, or unified local

government, which is located within this state, and the document contains:

1. The name of the individual to whom the document was issued; and

2. A photograph of the individual to whom the document was issued;

(19) "Sponsor" means the person or entity paying for the electioneering communication.

If a person or entity acts as an agent for another or is reimbursed by another for the

payment, the original source of the payment is the sponsor;

(20) (a) 1. "Synthetic media" means an audio recording or video recording of an

identifiable natural individual's appearance, action, or speech that has

been intentionally manipulated with the use of generative adversarial

network techniques in a manner to create a realistic but false audio or

video that produces:

a. A depiction that, to a reasonable individual, is of an identifiable

natural individual in appearance, action, or speech that did not

actually occur in reality and that was created without the consent

of such individual; and

b. A fundamentally different understanding or impression of the

appearance, action, or speech than a reasonable person would have

from the unaltered, original version of the audio recording or video

recording.

2. As used in this paragraph:

a. "Generative adversarial network" means a machine learning model

that uses neural networks to develop new data and make more

accurate predictions; and

b. "Neural network" means a machine learning algorithm modeled on

the human brain and nervous system.

(b) "Synthetic media" does not include content that contains a disclosure under

KRS 117.322(1).

(21) "Voting booth" or "ballot completion area" means an area in which a voter casts his

or her vote or completes his or her ballot which is designed to ensure the secrecy of

the vote;

(22) "Vote center" means a consolidated precinct of the county;

(23) "Voting equipment" means any physical component of a voting system and

includes voting machines where voting machines are in operation;

(24) "Voting machine" or "machine":

(a) Means a part of a voting system that consists of one (1) or more electronic

devices that operate independently or as a combination of a ballot marking

device and an electronic or automatic vote tabulation device; and

(b) Does not include an e-poll book;

(25) "Voting system":

(a) Means the total combination of physical, mechanical, electromechanical, or

electronic equipment, including the software, hardware, firmware, and

documentation required to program, control, and support that equipment, that

is used to:

1. Define ballots;

2. Cast and count votes;

3. Report or display election results; and

4. Maintain and produce any audit trail information;

(b) Includes the practices and associated documentation used to:

1. Identify system components and versions of those components;

2. Test the system during its development and maintenance;

3. Maintain records of system errors and defects;

4. Determine specific system changes to be made to a system after the

initial qualification of the system;

5. Make available any materials to the voter, such as notices, instructions,

forms, or paper ballots; and

(c) Does not include an e-poll book; and

(26) "Voter-verified paper audit trail" means a contemporaneous paper record of a ballot

printed for the voter to confirm his or her votes before the voter casts his or her

ballot that:

(a) Allows the voter to verify the voter's ballot choices before the casting of the

voter's ballot;

(b) Is not retained by the voter;

(c) Does not contain individual voter information;

(d) Is produced on paper that is sturdy, clean, and resistant to degradation; and

(e) Is readable in a manner that makes the voter's ballot choices obvious to the

voter or any person without the use of computer or electronic code.