Kentucky has a Democratic Governor, so how...

[edhopper]

are we seeing the suppression efforts going forward for tomorrow's voting?

I thought having a Democratic governor would help block some of the GOP suppression tactics come November.

Can't he get more voting places opened?

Maybe someone from Kentucky can explain.

[Demsrule86]

1. Legislature is in GOP hands.

[sweetloukillbot]

2. Secretary of State handles elections

And they're a Republican.

[Peacetrain]

3. Bingo!!!! exactly... SOS

[edhopper]

7. He is powerless?

[PTWB]

13. No, the Secretary of State is not powerless. He's the one who manages the state elections.

[edhopper]

14. I meant

is the Governor powerless in this?

[PTWB]

16. Essentially yes.

[LonePirate]

4. Elections are seldom run the Governor. They are run by the Secretary of State, a Repub in Kentucky.

[edhopper]

6. Are you saying there is nothing he can do?

[onetexan]

10. Dems need to make sure as many AG & SoS positions in every state is won by a Dem.

This will help curtail voter suppression by the GOP.

[Awsi Dooger]

22. This was attempted by a progressive group about 15 years ago

It was called Secretary of State Project and quite high profile on sites like this. Predictably it flopped and disbanded after a few years. Republicans have more of a foundational push toward those jobs. More of their up and coming candidates seek those jobs and the party machinery emphasizes and funds them. It was far beyond anything a patchwork group of enthusiasts could contend with.

Democrats have always had more of a top down focus. That is not going to change. Heck, I tried to discuss and analyze governorships here when I joined in 2002 but only a handful of posters gave a damn. It was strictly presidential and senate.

If we are not going to care about the secretary of states offices at least we should assign people to check the ballot designs and make sure they are not going to confuse voters. That showed up once again in Florida 2018.

[onetexan]

23. Agree. As the old adage goes, all politics is local. SoS is quite a powerful position & seems there

is little to stop oversight of malfeasance at that level.

I know President Obama & Eric Holder is focusing on getting Dem AG's elected. Maybe we can influence them to adjust their sights also helping Dems run for SoS positions and secure funding for their campaigns. Support also needs to be at the grass roots level.

[msongs]

5. another weapon against repubs in Nov nt

[edhopper]

8. If they can suppress the vote like this

they can stop people from voting against them.

[StarfishSaver]

9. Republican legislature and Secretary of State

The governor doesn't have much power in this regard.

[Progressive Jones]

11. Have any suits been filed over this yet? nt

[edhopper]

12. Don't know

but winning a law suit after the vote tomorrow is meaningless.

[PTWB]

15. A judge ruled that it was Ok for there to be one polling place per county.

(Not agreeing with him, just stating his ruling).

[Progressive Jones]

17. That sucks... nt

[Tech]

18. We have a Democratic governor in Wisconsin, republicans everywhere else. It's a mess.

I hope the country realizes this and knows the importance of voting for democrats at all levels of government.

[Wanderlust988]

19. I'm in Kentucky and the Governor said today it's NOT voter suppression

He and the SoS came to this agreement. This is a prime example of the media outside getting things screwed up cause they don't live here.

Everyone has had practically 2 months to request a mail in ballot!!! There is no excuse absentee ballot and in person early voting with no excuse. The governor didn't want us to have a covid outbreak at our election polls. It's a good plan. The national guard has also been called in to be poll workers in Jefferson County and other counties in the state so voters won't have to wait long.

There was also early in person voting for the past month!! If you didn't want to vote by mail, you had weeks to vote in person. There is no excuse.

Also in Louisville, they are voting at the state fairgrounds which handles large crowds. There will be many voting machines there. It's just going to be in a central location. This is nothing but a pure overreaction. Gov. Beshear endorsed this plan and he said today this is NOT voter suppression. We are not Georgia or Wisconsin. Gov. Beshear and Sos Adams came up with this agreement TOGETHER.

[JohnnyLib2]

20. Exactly right, plus budget limitations the legislature set before this governor came in.

Still, it will be a minor miracle if there aren't enough long lines and gripes to get attention.
On the other hand, a smooth day tomorrow would truly be noteworthy.

[edhopper]

21. thanks for explaining

I needed to hear from a Kentuckian.

[Corgigal]

24. Thanks,

we voted by mail. So did 35 percent of all voters. It’s not as bad as people think. We were warned for months, and given options.

We’re not fighting Mitch yet.

[Blue_true]

26. I just hope people on our side that get caught up in tomorrow pull their

heads out of their butts. We are going to need every vote that we can get in November.

[Blue_true]

25. People here on DU would rather yell "voter suppression" than examine deeply why

the fuck our voters don't take advantage of early voting, or go to the SOS's office and request a mail-in ballot. My last vote in a local election was mail-in. The county registrar SENT ME a letter explaining that because of COVID-19, there was an emphasis on getting people to vote by mail. I had to request a ballot be sent and one for the local election was sent. The good thing is my ONE request is good for every election until I ask that the ballots stop coming, so I will get a primary ballot in August and a Presidential and US House ballot in November, that will include any initiatives that have to be voted on.

One month of early voting in Kentucky, open request for a mail-in ballot to be sent. There is no reason to be complaining, anyone who feel disenfranchised should look at themselves in the mirror as the person that did it to them.

[Wanderlust988]

29. Thank you! If you're stuck in line at the fairgrounds, then it's your fault

Gov. Beshear has press conferences every afternoon since March pleading with people to get their mail in ballots. He and the SoS agreed to send EVERY voter a card in the mail to show them the website to request a ballot or the phone number to call and get it over the phone. PLUS, the ballots are free to mail!! My whole family got ballots and already mailed them back. It's not a problem!

And guess what? If you prefer to use a machine, the county clerk in EVERY county has had voting machines open for the past month for absentee in-person voting. Once again, NO EXCUSE!! C'mon people. We need to get a grip. This is not voter suppression. Gov. Beshear was actually a bit angry today at the suggestion we were suppressing votes. This is not a Wisconsin/Georgia type situation. And our voting machines have a history of actually working too!

The article makes it sounds like there's going to be one single voting machine for all of Louisville. There will be many voting machines, but just in a central location and will be staffed with the National Guard. Will there be lines? Maybe. But people have had 2 freaking months to cast a ballot or mail or vote absentee in-person. This is not voter suppression!

[Music Man]

27. Thank you! Jesus, I've been tired of the uninformed bluster.

One sentiment I've seen is, "Of course you'd see this in Mitch McConnell's Kentucky!" As if U.S. Senators have anything to do with state election procedures.

This is all part of Andy Beshear's particularly aggressive approach to Covid. It's why Kentucky is one of the states in a better position right now. It's not ideal, and it's more likely to disenfranchise poorer people, but there are at least some contingencies for that with bus routes going to the polling locations.

I got my mail-in ballot done this week, so no worry here. I'm in Lexington, where the polling location is Kroger Field.

[Lucinda]

28. Thank you for the info