Ky. city braces for lines at only voting place
Democratic Senate primary in balance
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With only one polling place designated for Louisville on Tuesday, voters who didn’t cast mail-in ballots or show up early could face long lines in Kentucky’s primary election, the latest to unfold in a pandemic that has triggered unprecedented election disruptions across the country.
The outcome of a competitive Democratic U.S. Senate primary could hang in the balance if Election Day turnout is hampered in Louisville — the hometown of Charles Booker, who has mounted a strong late challenge against presumed frontrunner Amy Mcgrath.
“If Charles Booker barely loses, I think the integrity of that election is in question,” Republican state Rep. Jason Nemes said Monday.
The winner of the primary will go against Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell, who isn’t expected to see a serious GOP primary challenge, in November.
The state’s Republican secretary of state, Michael Adams, said he’s “cautiously optimistic” that long lines won’t force people in Louisville to wait hours before voting. Early voting opened statewide two weeks ago. That, along with strong demand for absentee ballots, could spare people in Louisville or elsewhere from long waits, Adams said Monday.
Nemes sued to get more in-person voting locations in the state’s most populous counties. A federal judge denied the request several days before the election.
The surge of absentee ballots could cause waits of another sort Tuesday, as some counties have said they won’t release vote totals before June 30.
Kentucky turned to widespread mail-in absentee voting in an agreement between the Democratic governor and Adams in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But many voters not requesting absentee ballots will head to the polls Tuesday. The state’s primary is typically in late May but was delayed.
In Louisville, a city of 600,000, the only in-person voting place on Election Day is at the state fairgrounds. Despite waves of mail-in voting, some were bracing for long lines and frustration.
“There will be a number of people who want to vote tomorrow but will be discouraged from voting because it’s much too difficult,” Nemes said.
That’s of particular concern for Booker, who is Black and is counting on a high turnout in Louisville. He said his campaign would “keep a watchful eye” and stands ready to mount a legal challenge if needed.
“There should not have only been one location,” Booker said. “That will just naturally disenfranchise folks.”
Mcgrath tried to join the suit demanding more than one in-person voting location on Election Day in Louisville and other population centers, but a federal judge denied her campaign’s motion to intervene. Mcgrath also pushed to extend the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot.
For voters unable to get an absentee ballot, “you are forced to now stand in line in the one polling location in the middle of a pandemic,” Mcgrath said. “If you’re 82 years old, are you going to do that?”
Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, sent out 218,404 absentee ballots to voters who requested them by the June 15 deadline, according to the county clerk’s office. As a comparison, about 125,000 people voted in the 2016 U.S. Senate primary in Jefferson County in 2016.
The county also allowed early in-person voting beginning June 15 at the state fairgrounds. Last week nearly 7,500 people walked in and voted early between Monday and Friday, county clerk spokesman Nore Ghibaudy said.