Secretary of state wants more Lexington polling places. County clerk has other priority.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams is concerned that Fayette County has too few polling locations for the November General Election, but the Fayette County clerk hasn’t made changes.
Fayette County will have six polling places open for early voting and Election Day voting, according to Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins. But that’s not enough for Adams.
“I’ve got about 12 counties around the state that have opened up every single precinct. If they can do that, why can’t other counties do that?” Adams said to WKYT, the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner.
Blevins said opening all the voting locations isn’t feasible for Fayette County, which usually has about 145 sites.
“It’s not realistic to expect a large county to open all of its polling locations,” he said. Blevins said he was concerned about COVID-19 exposure for voters, and he has limited staff. Other departments within the county clerk’s office are busier than usual this year, so he can’t pull employees over to help with the election.
Blevins said he hasn’t actually talked to Adams about Fayette County’s election plan. But he has talked to some of Adams’ staff members and explained why Fayette County has six polling places.
“We’ve been dealt a bad hand by coronavirus, but we have to play the hand we’re dealt,” Blevins said. “And in terms of in-person voting, it’s really handcuffed us.”
Jefferson County increased its in-person polling locations for the November election from 8 to 20 in September, a move that was in response to Adam’s prodding, according to his tweet.
In Fayette County, Blevins said he calculated the need for six polling places by counting on 70 percent of voters to vote absentee. Fayette County has 248,000 registered voters, and Blevins assumed a voter turnout of 75 percent. If 70 percent of voters used absentee ballots, that would leave approximately 55,800 people voting in person.
Blevins on Thursday pleaded with Lexington residents to request an absentee ballot. In a Reddit post, Blevins said Fayette County had only received 81,000 absentee ballot requests. He’s hoping that number surpasses 120,000 to avoid long lines at polling places. Blevins told the Herald-Leader Friday that 120,000 is the minimum he wants.
“At 130,000, I would be really comfortable,” he said.
Preparing those absentee ballots for mailing takes staff time.
People should disregard the misinformation about the dangers of using absentee ballots, Blevins said. If voters don’t trust mail-in voting, they can use the six ballot drop boxes around Lexington.
“It’s completely safe and secure,” he told the Herald-Leader. “I wish people would go ahead request their ballots that way.”
The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is Oct. 9.
On Twitter Thursday, Adams said that his office was engaged in a “good-faith effort” with Blevins, and he was “hopeful” that it would produce a good result.
Fayette County’s current voting plan
Fayette County’s current election plan was devised by assessing population size, expected voter turnout, and resources available to the county clerk’s office, among other factors, Blevins said. Blevins said he also looked at what comparable cities were doing.
Lexington’s plan includes these six polling places:
- Tates Creek Branch Library, 3628 Walden Drive
- Northside Branch Library, 1733 Russell Cave Road
- Beaumont Branch Library, 3080 Fieldstone Way
- Dunbar Center, 545 North Upper.
- Lexington Senior Center, 195 Life Lane (behind Southland Christian Church on Richmond Road)
- Bluegrass Community and Technical College, Leestown Campus, 164 Opportunity Way
In-person polling places will be open for early voting from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Early voting runs from Oct. 13 to Nov. 2, according to the county clerk’s office. Those same six locations will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Election Day Nov. 3.
An absentee ballot can be requested online and mailed in. They can also be dropped into the drop boxes at six locations, five of which also have in-person voting machines.
- Tates Creek Branch Library, 3628 Walden Drive
- Northside Branch Library, 1733 Russell Cave Road
- Beaumont Branch Library, 3080 Fieldstone Way
- Lexington Senior Center, 195 Life Lane (behind Southland Christian Church on Richmond Road)
- BCTC Leestown Campus, 164 Opportunity Way
- County clerk’s office, 162 East Main Street
Voters can register to vote, check their registration status and find additional voting information on the city’s website.
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 8:51 AM.