It’s an Election Day in KY: McGrath and McConnell taking advantage of early voting
It is Election Day in Kentucky, and it will be for 18 of the next 21 days, as polls opened to in-person voting Tuesday.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Democratic nominee Amy McGrath cast her ballot on the first day of in-person voting. She and a small group of her staff and supporters gathered in a park in Scott County before caravanning to the polls.
“We can do better, we must do better right now,” McGrath told her supporters. “Our country is in peril and we have leaders who just aren’t getting it done.”
There has been a partisan divide over how to vote heading into Election Day, with President Donald Trump criticizing mail-in absentee voting. In Kentucky, 657,920 voters requested absentee ballots, about 18 percent of the total registered voters in the state.
Around 64 percent of those requests came from registered Democrats, even though only roughly 47 percent of Kentucky voters are Democrats.
McConnell, who was making a tour of south-central Kentucky Tuesday with Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, to talk about the CARES Act, said he wasn’t worried about how people vote, so long as they cast a ballot. He said he plans to vote Thursday and that his wife, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, voted by mail.
“I’m going to vote early,” McConnell said. “Elaine has voted by mail. So we’re taking advantage of two different ways to vote.”
He said he was “satisfied” with the agreement reached by Secretary of State Michael Adams and Governor Andy Beshear to allow people to vote by mail and in-person, either early or on Election Day.
McConnell’s campaign appearances have been largely limited to “official” events, like Tuesday’s gathering in Corbin, where he talks with local leaders about the federal money that businesses and hospitals have received. In Corbin, he touted a “build grant” for a road project.
On the heels of a debate where McGrath repeatedly criticized him for not compromising on another coronavirus relief bill, McConnell announced that he would attempt again to call a vote on a Senate relief bill he supports.
“I’m trying to target the problem, what do we actually need?” McConnell said, mentioning unemployment insurance, schools, replenishment of protective equipment and assistance for hospitals. “Why can’t we sensibly come together and agree to go after what the actual needs are? And that’s what my bill is designed to do.”
The Republican bill would cost about $500 billion. Democrats support a $2 trillion package that originated in the House of Representatives.
McGrath has been critical of McConnell’s efforts on COVID-19 relief throughout the campaign, saying he was “making excuses” by pointing the finger at House Democrats and prioritizing the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Judge Amy Coney Barrett over providing relief during a global crisis.
She encouraged people to vote early.
“You don’t need to wait for Election Day,” McGrath said. “The ballot’s not going to change. Mitch McConnell is certainly not going to change. So you can vote now.”
There are eight polling locations in Lexington and they will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 1:37 PM.
