"Have you ever seen gas thrown on a fire, well thats what happend today! Independents will build off this like we always have" Stated Chairman Lewis after a expected defeat in the House where SB 53 went up against Democrat leadership. In an exchange after the hearing, Chairman Lewis and Rep Ron Weston (D-Louisville) discussed the lissues of this bill with Weston tellng Chairman Lewis that Independents disenfrancehise themselves then quickly turned and walked away.

An interesting turnout in todays hearing brought a member of the county clerks office, who opposed this bill. His reason were sounded more like a job complaint this, then acutal reasons to oppose this bill. He stated how hard it would be on the poll workers and the cost might not be as minimal as was thoguht. He was followed up by the Secretary of States office Sara Johnson, who also opposed this bill but only gave numbers on registration to the committee.

There was an unknown speaker who said she was a Co-Chair of the LaRue County GOP that spoke in support of the bill. However no one that has worked on this bill in the past has ever spoke with her or even knew she was coming to speak on behalf of the bill. She didn't make herself available for comment after the hearing and we were unable to verify his position within the county GOP.

After a brief talk with reporters Chairman Lewis was found in the halls working for next year. Standing in front of a few people he said "I want Independents to look at the last Three months and see what we have accomplished! Be Proud, be excited, be ready to build for next year!" and with a unusual pleasant encounter with Senator Jullian Carroll in which hello's and a handshake were exchanged, Michael went on to say "Kentucky's Independents have been working for 18 months on this bill, and we have gained the attention of the Nation. We are looking for allies, and to strengthen our partnerships! There is no time to lose, we must inform the Independent voters in this state of the injustices our state puts on Independents, from not allowing us to vote in primaries to not allowing us to work at polls! If the leadership in Frankfort thinks Independents will go away, then they themselves have not watched the trends of the people and we will see them again!"

Independent Kentucky has been working with national affiliate independentvoting.org to build a nationwide network of Independent leaders. We encourage everyone to visit www.indpendentvoting.org www.openprimaries.org