What the heck is going on in the #KentuckyPrimary: a thread. Because there is a LOT of misinformation being repeated on twitter tonight. And from ppl that I respect and admire! Joss! Ava!! Y’all should know better!!
I am aware that out-of-staters do genuinely care about the Kentucky primary because of a) that dual national embarrassments that are Mitch and Rand and b) voter suppression being a threat to democracy EVERYWHERE. So I understand that the intent is good and the concern is real.
BUT the situation is much more complicated than the widely-cited WaPo story said. First, our primary was supposed to have been on May 19th. Back on March 16th, the same week that our schools closed, it was announced that the primary would be delayed until 6/23.
Decisions about how to re-work primary voting were made during the period of COVID lockdowns. A major concern was (and is!) that over 70% of poll workers are age 60 and older, putting them in the highest risk category. (Source: courier-journal.com/story/news/pol…)
The first big reform was mail-in voting. Originally Gov. Beshear wanted to send an absentee ballot to all eligible voters. Kentucky AG blocked that initiative. But in the end, a compromise was reached: 1. Requesting an absentee ballot was made stupidly easy, all
barriers were removed (you could do it online, without notarized signature). 2. Postcards with instructions to request absentee ballots were mailed to every household. I got two of them, even. (Source: courier-journal.com/story/news/202…) 3. For the first time, early in-person voting allowed
THAT MEANS that in-person polls are open every weekday from 6/8 - 6/23. That’s twelve days that you can go to your voting location. In Jefferson County we also have free public transport to and from our one polling location. Which, again, is open for twelve days.
As for the one voting location in Jefferson County: Yes, that sucks. But the location (Expo Center) was chosen because of accessibility for people with disabilities, accessibility via (free) public transport, and - most importantly! -
its ability to accommodate large crowds and lines WITH social distancing measures in place, indoors, protecting voters in line from the weather. And again, worth repeating: We have 12 days to vote in-person.
I FULLY REALIZE that it’s still a shitty situation. Limiting in-person voting to only weekdays is bad, period. (ALL elections should be a holiday!) Having only one location is bad, EVEN IF it’s the “best” location with free transport and open 12 days.
And while I understand that the age and lack of poll workers is a huge problem, I still don’t buy it when County Board says that it would be “impossible” to add another polling location to JeffCo. (See Courier-Journal article above.)
But the situation is NOT as dire as some would have you believe. We ain’t Wisconsin, y’all. I’ve already voted in person. Huge accommodations were made to allow mail-in and early in-person voting. Lots of us have ALREADY VOTED.
Further background: State Representative Jason Nemes (R) posted a letter objecting to JeffCo’s plan to only have one polling location on May 21st. He filed a lawsuit against the county/state on June 8th, alleging voter suppression. (courier-journal.com/story/news/202…)
Amy McGrath (D, running in the Senate primary) and Metro Councilwoman Keisha Dorsey (D) filed a motion on 6/13 to join the lawsuit as plaintiffs. Dorsey represents the part of Louisville with the largest Black population. (courier-journal.com/story/news/pol…)
But ultimately a judge dismissed their motion to join the lawsuit, as the demands that they wanted to add to the original lawsuit (having County Clerk increase staffing to make absentee ballots available through 6/22) wasn’t possible to implement at the final hour.
Still, McGrath and Dorsey’s motion (embedded in the link above) point out that JCTA (our teacher union) has recruited poll workers and Jefferson County Public Schools are willing to provide polling locations that meet social distancing requirements, which hugely undermines
the County Clerk’s continued assertion that they just can’t add another polling location due to safety/staffing/accessibility concerns. Ultimately, however, the US District Court in Western Kentucky ruled against Nemes. (courier-journal.com/story/news/202…) The decision was that
given ALL the aforementioned circumstances (zero barriers for absentee voting, polling location open for 12 days, free public transport, lack of poll workers, need for polling location that can implement social distancing) voters’ rights were not being infringed.
Again, that’s... Not true, in my opinion. Buuuuut it’s not Wisconsin either. This process has removed major barriers to mail-in voting for the whole state, which is a net good for voting rights imho, AND allowed early in-person voting for Kentuckians for the first time.
So that’s the facts. Sorry for the long thread, but I REALLY wanted to set the record straight. A reminder to everyone (and myself!) that it’s important to check local news sources and hear from the ppl involved before you spread misinformation about something in another state.
ETA: This is probably a topic for another day, but while we’re here, let me just say that I hope this is the year that we get momentum to change the staggered state primary system. All of us who live in “late” states effectively DON’T get to vote in the presidential primary.
There should be one national Primary Election Day (a holiday of course) so that everyone gets a chance to vote for the candidate of their choice. There’s another form of disenfranchisement here, that happens EVERY four years, that needs some attention. OK now that’s off my chest.
One morning correction: In-person voting was available at the County Clerk’s office week days 6/8-6/23, and at the Expo Center 6/15-6/23. (elections.jeffersoncountyclerk.org) Either way, still 12 days to do in-person voting, no appointment or special permission required.
Editing to add again: The flip side to removing barriers to mail-in voting is that there was a deluge of requests for absenteee ballots. I don’t want to downplay the fact that some ppl did not receive their ballots, as documented here: courier-journal.com/story/news/pol…
Also: I don’t have hard numbers for how many ppl voted early. There might still be a disaster on Tuesday. I might end up with egg on my face. But I still want it to be known how hard ppl fought to EXPAND voting rights in KY this year and to open up in-person voting for 2 weeks.
Edited again: Thanks for pointing me to and kentucky.com/article2435682… We are on track for HISTORICALLY high voter turnout, even in a primary where the prez nominee is no longer competitive! Let’s make easy mail-in voting and early in-person voting permanent!
Ultimately, I’m just a person living in Louisville. So I’ll link to a better thread than mine from an expert on election law: Spreading inaccurate info suppresses voter turnout. If you want to help, RT info about where/how to vote from official accounts!
