Kentucky’s primary election pushed back until June amid COVID-19 outbreak
Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday pushed back May’s primary elections until late June, giving the government more time to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
The elections include the presidential race, a high-profile campaign for U.S. Senate (the seat is currently held by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell), six campaigns for U.S. House of Representatives, half of the seats in the Kentucky Senate, every seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives, as well as judicial and local elections.
“This is a necessary step,” Beshear said. “We don’t want people to create gatherings where the coronavirus can spread,”
The election, which was originally scheduled for May 19, will now be held June 23.
“It’s a great decision,” said Josh Douglas, an elections law professor at the University of Kentucky. “I’m hopeful that the state will also let every voter vote by mail. For now it is very smart to delay the election with this much lead time.”
Douglas said delaying it months out will allow voters, candidates and campaigns to plan accordingly.
“I applaud Secretary Adams and Gov. Beshear for taking bold actions to protect our democracy,” Douglas said.
Kentucky is not the only state that has delayed its primary because of the coronavirus. Two days ago, Georgia pushed it’s March primary back to May and Louisiana pushed its April primary back to June. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine recommended pushing their election, scheduled for Tuesday, back to June. Arizona’s primary Tuesday will continue as planned.
Secretary of State Michael Adams sent a letter to Beshear Monday recommending that the governor push back the primary. State law says Beshear can only delay the election upon the recommendation of the Secretary of State.
“It was not something done I’ve done lightly,” Adams said. “It was something done with feedback from county clerks of both parties around the state.”
Adams said delaying the election buys election officials time.
“Obviously the hope is that by June 23, the worst will be over and we’ll be able to have an election that is as normal as possible,” Adams said. “The other possibility is that we won’t be back to normal. This will give us time to make the changes we can make in our elections system.”
Michael Lonergan, the spokesman for the Republican Party of Kentucky, said he appreciated the decision reached by Adams and Beshear.
“This isn’t about partisan politics,” Lonergan said. “It is about keeping people safe from a dangerous disease.”
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 5:02 PM.
