Kentucky's governor rebuffs national criticism: Election plan is 'opposite of voter suppression'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – All eyes are on Kentucky. That hashtag, fueled by dozens of celebrities, took over social media feeds Monday and called into question the commonwealth’s plan for Tuesday’s primary election.

Louisville native Jennifer Lawrence, LeBron James, Hillary Clinton, and others have responded to the social media posts suggesting Kentucky's COVID-19 voting strategy is attempting to suppress voters, especially Black voters. The national chatter adds to Louisville’s recent spotlight with the Breonna Taylor case and weeks of protests.

Many of the tweets, Instagram stories, and Facebook posts focus on a legitimate statistic: There is only one in-person polling place for Jefferson County’s 600,000 registered voters. But that doesn't tell the full story.

Governor Andy Beshear addressed voting concerns on Monday, emphasizing that Kentucky is allowing mail-in voting and no-excuse early voting for the first time in the commonwealth’s history. In fact, voters have been able to vote for weeks.

The changes were part of a bipartisan effort between Beshear and Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams to let people safely vote and avoid crowds or lines, in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Besides addressing the safety of voters, the change protects volunteer poll workers who are often older.

In the past, Kentucky voters have always been required to fill out an affidavit justifying why they need to vote early. For the June 23 election, the medical emergency caused by COVID-19 applies to all voters.

Beshear said these efforts don't amount to voter suppression.

“It’s something believed to be one of the major steps to significantly increasing voting here,” he said. “I believe we are on our way in this state to have potentially a record number of votes in our primary and that’s important. The numbers are already adding up to be the most significant primary in the terms of voter interest.”

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According to the governor’s office, statewide absentee ballot requests have totaled 883,054. With a voter turnout of 19.4 percent, the total number of votes in the 2019 primary was 664,738. If every single absentee ballot is returned, the number of votes would far surpass last year’s primary.

On top of the number of statewide absentee ballots, of which 51 percent were returned as of Monday, 88,530 people cast their ballots early at their in-person polling locations.

“As we look all the way back to 2016, if all the absentee ballots are returned, we will have the largest number of people voting in one of our primaries in at least the last decade,” Beshear said.

The number of polling locations available for voters has been a point of criticism, especially for Jefferson County. The only polling place for the entire county Tuesday is the Kentucky Exposition Center. It is the largest polling site for the entire state, with space to hold more than 2,000 different ballots.

The Expo Center has been open to early voters since June 15. As of Monday, 7,213 people cast their ballots in person, according to the governor’s office.

Beshear believes that if the numbers prove true, Jefferson County will also have a historic voter turnout for this primary. According to the governor, 215,939 absentee ballots were requested in Jefferson County and at least 47 percent of those have been returned as of Monday.

Without counting the thousands of people voting in person Tuesday, the number of absentee ballots requested surpasses the total number of votes in the 2019 primary by more than 80,000.

Adams visited the Expo Center Tuesday morning and called the commonwealth's voting plan “a national success story." He said the lines moved smoothly and efficiently inside the Expo Center.

Adams said claims that Kentucky is attempting to suppress voters is false.

“The voters aren’t being suppressed. They’re voting. And look at our turnout. Our turnout is through the roof! It’s the highest it’s ever been in a presidential primary election cycle. It’s normally 20 percent. We’re on track to go over 30 percent. That’s really good for a primary,” said Adams.

The governor’s order did not specify the number of polling places required by each county, but the order allowed the Board of Elections to issue regulations on how it would work. Jefferson County’s current plan was approved by the Board of Elections.

Beshear said he understands the criticism of only having one polling location for the entire county. However, he pointed to voters’ opportunity to cast their ballots early, saying he was disappointed that “early voting wasn’t taken advantage of in the way that he’d hoped in Jefferson County.” The governor added he hopes if no-excuse early voting is allowed again in the future that more people take advantage of it.

The governor said if Kentucky sees long lines Tuesday, it’s not because the plan failed.

“If we do see lines, it’s because people are showing up to vote in numbers we’ve never seen before. And we’ll have significantly higher primary vote count,” Beshear said.

The governor said there will be lessons to be learned from this primary, but he hopes mail-in voting and no-excuse early voting will be options again in November. He added that if there are people who don’t vote that would’ve otherwise if there were more polling locations, then that needs to be addressed.

For ballots to be counted, they must be post-marked or placed in a designated drop box by Tuesday. The official drop box in Jefferson County is in the lobby of the Expo Center’s South Wing.

Beshear sought to reassure voters that every vote, in person or through the mail, will be counted. The election results are being delayed until June 30, to give county clerk’s offices the time necessary to gather, validate, and count each vote.

Adding to the number of registered voters in Kentucky, Beshear signed an order within the first few days of becoming governor that restored voting rights to 170,000 people.

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