MONDAY NIGHT KY ELECTION THREAD:
'Twas the night before voting
And all through the Commonwealth
Election officials were stirring
To secure democracy's health
Here's what I'll be watching tomorrow. A thread:
'Twas the night before voting
And all through the Commonwealth
Election officials were stirring
To secure democracy's health
Here's what I'll be watching tomorrow. A thread:
1. Lines (duh). I'm expecting lines of 30-45 minutes, maybe an hour, but not many hours like in GA and WI. That's cause of the push for mail-in voting. So if lines are a lot longer, it means truly massive in-person turnout, or something seriously went wrong with check-in/machines
2. Check-in process. Louisville and Lexington both will have election officials with e-pollbooks to direct voters to correct line. I'm told it will take about 45 seconds per voter to check them in, with lots of stations. Will that be a bottleneck? Will it be slower?
3. Poll workers. Will they all show up? Will there be enough? That was the reason the counties decided to have one in-person polling place. (By the way, Lexington voters who need assistance can still make an appointment to vote at the Senior Center. Call the clerk's office.)
4. Absentee ballots never delivered. There are anecdotes of people not receiving their ballots, but I don't think it's widespread. Voters can cancel absentee ballot requests while voting in person. That will take a little longer and could slow things down.
5. Accessible voting machines. Each location will have a set of voting machines for voters with disabilities. From what I've heard, there should plenty, and if there are no disabled voters waiting and lines are super long, other voters can use them, too. Will they need to?
6. Weather. It may rain in the morning. Will that lead to longer lines in the afternoon?
7. Lawsuits. There's already been one lawsuit on having just one polling place, which failed, and P's did not appeal. Might we see others, such as to extend polling hours?
7. Lawsuits. There's already been one lawsuit on having just one polling place, which failed, and P's did not appeal. Might we see others, such as to extend polling hours?
8. Polls close at 6:00. Will there still be long lines at that time? Anyone in line at 6:00 may still vote.
9. Outcome: WE WON'T KNOW who won the #KYSen Democratic primary for about a week. Both Louisville and Lexington will not release vote totals until soon before the state's June 30 deadline to certify. That said...
10. Turnout in Louisville. @Booker4KY is hoping for very strong turnout in Louisville to beat @AmyMcGrathKY's likely strength in more rural areas. If Louisville has very high turnout, that could be good for him.
11. Turnout in Madison County, Frankfort, and Kenton (Northern KY). These counties have also pockets of Democratic voters. Strong turnout again is probably good news for Booker. Then again, in-person turnout doesn't equal overall turnout.
12. Transportation. Will there be transportation issues for those who want to vote in person? Both Louisville and Lexington are providing free transportation. Will it be sufficient?
13. Social distancing. We are, after all, still in a pandemic. That's why our election looks so different this year! How will the social distancing measures work? Virtually everything is supposed to be contactless (hold up ID (can be non-photo)), new pencil, etc. Will it work?
14. Will lots of voters show up to their old voting locations? I hope not, but there will be volunteers (at least in some places in Louisville) to help out:
15. If it's super close (after results announced on June 30), will there be an election contest? Look to Ky. Rev. Stat. § 120.055, which requires a lawsuit to be filed in Franklin Circuit Court within 10 days. (Tweeting this mostly for my own future reference if needed.)
17. How much will people use the option of having free rides to the polls?
