Kentucky cuts 95% of polling stations

[Eliot Rosewater]

Kentucky lawmakers have warned the state was heading towards a disastrous primary election this week, as ballot problems, voter confusion and a severe shortage of polling places threatened to suppress turnout amid the coronavirus pandemic.

State officials on both sides of the political aisle released a joint statement condemning US District Court Judge Charles Simpson’s ruling against a case that argued having just one polling site in most of the state’s 120 counties would result in voter suppression.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kentucky-cuts-polling-locations-angry-mob-long-lines-georgia-election-day-disaster-confusion-a9577501.html


GOP is at war with us, a real war.

[vapor2]

1. what the fuck is wrong with these republicans??

Clearly they will stop at nothing to retain their power. greedy fucking bastards

[certainot]

14. they live in an alternate realy created with 30 years of limbaugh and sons and

all dems have to do is stop ignoring it

how sad if their empire falls merely because limbuagh croaks from lung cancer and the left and dems never even notice, and chalk it up to something else - like political cycles, the economy stupid (really fucking stupid), or all the other crap the cons want liberals to blame because they ignore talk radio and continue to study fish without water

[wellst0nev0ter]

15. Self-inflicted wound by Democratic governor

After Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear delayed the primary from mid-May to June 23 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, he issued an executive order requiring the Board of Elections to expand voting by mail, permit early voting, and limit contact among voters and poll workers during in-person voting. About a week later, the Board of Elections directed county clerks across the state to submit plans that included cuts to the number of polling locations in each county. Counties across the state complied;

<snip>

All in all, according to the Washington Post, Kentucky officials have reduced the number of polling places in the state from 3,700 in a typical election year to fewer than 200 this month. Meanwhile, though thousands of voters have requested mail-in ballots in an attempt to avoid in-person voting, some have yet to receive them just days before the election date of June 23, when they must be postmarked.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/06/kentucky-slashes-polling-places-voting-rights-mcgrath-booker-lebron-james/

[Under The Radar]

2. Republicans don't give a damn about democracy, it is money and power that they ain't giving up

[cyclonefence]

3. Can the elections clause of the Constitution be invoked?

Here it is:

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.

Not that the Senate would be interested in helping, but still.

[tman]

4. Trump has the DOJ and supreme court in his pocket on this issue.

We're going to need record turnout.

[tinrobot]

5. Kentucky has a Democratic governor. Is he powerless to stop this?

[Blue_true]

7. I have that thought also. Can't the Governor step in? nt

[KY_EnviroGuy]

6. Local article on this issue....

Jefferson, Fayette counties will not have to add additional polling locations, judge rules
Ben Tobin
Louisville Courier Journal

Link: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/06/18/kentucky-elections-judge-rules-against-forcing-more-polling-locations/3211751001/

Excerpts:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —Kentucky's most populous counties will not have to offer more than one polling location on Tuesday's primary elections, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

In a lawsuit filed June 8 in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Kentucky, state Rep. Jason Nemes, a Louisville Republican, and voters from Jefferson, Fayette, Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties alleged that "significant voter suppression" would occur as a result of each county having a singular polling location.

The plaintiffs alleged that the singular polling locations violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution as well as part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
+++
On Thursday, Simpson denied the request, saying that the use of singular polling locations in this instance is not unconstitutional. "While it may seem intuitive that, when it comes to polling places, more is better, that is not a call for this Court to make, unless we first find a constitutional or statutory violation," Simpson wrote.

So, anyone in Louisville/Jefferson County Metro that wants to vote in person Tuesday will have to drive to the Fairgrounds, park in a massive parking lot and walk into the polling location to vote. If that is not voter suppression, I don't know what is.

KY...........

[Blue_true]

8. Since you live there.

How? Does Blevin factor into this. Can't the current Governor over-rule any thing Blevin did?

I think that voting should be as easy as possible and done in three levels, with a voter choosing the most suitable one:

Vote by mail with no restrictions, every registered voter can request a ballot.

In-person Early Voting starting on October 1 and open 12 hours per day, every day during that time.

In-person voting on Election Day.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

9. My mistake.

I misread the article. That statement was actually by Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins Jr., not the former governor. Haste makes waste. I despise Bevin so much, I thought it was him.

I'm still trying to understand the complexities of the case, but there's nothing Governor Beshear can do because elections here are controlled by the Republican legislature and the local boards of election.

I understand the push to get everyone to vote by mail due to COVID-19 but for a metro area the size of Jefferson County, one in-person polling place is not enough for those that didn't get their mail-in ballot, most of whom would be poor people.

I think they just ran out of time and money to change it. I certainly hope that improves for November.

Sorry for the confusion.

KY

[Blue_true]

10. Thanks. You provided answers to a lot of questions. nt

[struggle4progress]

11. Judge is a Reagan appointee

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

12. As I said earlier...

...the people who are going to be disenfranchised by this have no financial power as a group.

However, white Democrats in KY and the rest of the country have the finances and the influence to address all of these issues with much more of an impact than most of us are willing to admit.

Again, we're not gonna win by wondering about the courts.

[keithbvadu2]

13. Can the governor do Executive Orders?

Can the governor do Executive Orders?

[Wanderlust988]

16. This is an overreaction

Gov. Beshear and the SoS both agreed to this. It's not as bad as it sounds. The state has basically moved to nearly all mail in ballots due to corona. The state mailed every voter a card with a phone number or website to call or visit to request a mail in ballot. Easy peasy! My whole family got ballots in the mail and already mailed them back. Also, the state has in-person voting going on now, so you can vote in person early. This is NOT voter suppression!!

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. It's a complete clusterfuck. The mail-in ballots were massively screwed up.

Some Louisville voters received ballots for the June 23 primary election opposite of their party's registration, the Jefferson County Clerk's Office confirmed to WDRB News.
...
"It's possible they got the wrong ballot, when there's over 2,200 different ballot styles and there are two ballots sitting next to each other one is a Republican and the other is Democrat," said Nore Ghibaudy, a spokesman for the Jefferson County Clerk's Office. "You've got to remember this is a very unique situation. We have sent out over 200,000 ballots in a short period of time working 24 hours a day seven days a week."

It's unclear how many people received the wrong party affiliated ballot by mistake. Anyone who received a ballot opposite of their registration can exchange it before Election Day at the State Board of Elections' office off Ormsby Avenue in Louisville, Ghibaudy said.
...
Donnelley and Henry County Clerk Shanda Archer both confirmed to WDRB News that they would allow voters to surrender their absentee ballots if they bring it to the polls and vote in person.

A day-of absentee-to-in-person voting switch will not be accommodated in Jefferson County, said Ghibaudy, who explained that the switch would be hard to audit due to the number of absentee ballots in circulation in Louisville.

https://www.wdrb.com/news/voter-confusion-ballot-problems-remain-ahead-of-kentuckys-primary-election/article_6ba96898-b282-11ea-a103-5b62ab4df108.html

It's not as bad as it sounds - it's worse. They can go in person, in just a couple of days, to an office, which will be overwhelmed, and a covid-19 hotspot, to get the postal ballot corrected. But they can't vote in person. But they can in other counties.

[Wanderlust988]

19. They can vote in-person now. I know. I live here!

Even if they sent you the wrong ballot, you can easily go and vote in person early or wait until election day. It's not a big deal. And when they have a single voting location, all the precincts will be there just like my county has been doing for 30 years. It's not a huge deal.

[questionseverything]

21. i am guessing your county does not have 600,000 voters

if 10 % of the registered voters show up for election day in Louisville that is over 60,000 people

if the poll is open for 14 hours that would be 840 minutes

if poll workers could process 2 voters a minute that would be 1680 voters, so what about the other58 thousand plus?

it is a denial of service attack on voters

I am sure it is just coincidence that over half of KY's black population lives in Louisville which will be among the counties that are impacted the worst

[Lucinda]

18. ...

[spanone]

20. THIS should be a fucking crime.