Joe Sonka, Louisville Courier Journal
Courier Journal’s Joe Gerth drove around the state (1,394 miles) to hear what people thought of the Kentucky governor’s race. Here’s what he found Louisville Courier Journal
Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes predicts about 31% of the state’s 3,451,537 registered voters will turn out to cast a ballot on Tuesday.
That’s almost identical to the meager 30.7% that turned out to vote in the 2015 election for governor and other constitutional offices.
There are a number of factors at play to explain such a low voter turnout, but it’s worth noting that Kentucky has some of the most restrictive laws in the country when it comes to early voting, absentee voting and the time the polls close on Election Day.
While most states allow early in-person voting anywhere from 10 to 46 days before the election, Kentucky is one of just nine states to not allow either early in-person voting or absentee voting by mail without an accepted excuse.
State Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, who sponsored a bill this year to allow two weeks of early voting and keep polling stations open an extra two hours on Election Day, says Kentucky’s current laws make no sense and harm citizens’ ability to vote.
“I think our voting hours are ridiculously prohibitive,” McGarvey said. “I don’t know why in 2019 a person can only vote between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday in November.”
According to the State Board of Elections, Kentuckians are allowed to vote in person at their county clerk’s office before an election only if they are:
- Out of the county on Election Day
- Advanced in age, disabled or ill
- A person in the military or their dependents
- An overseas citizen
- A student or resident who temporarily resides outside the county
- A voter or spouse of a voter who has surgery scheduled on Election Day
- A pregnant woman in her third trimester
The same conditions exist for those wanting to vote absentee by mail, including those who are incarcerated but not yet convicted of a crime. Applications for those absentee ballots must be requested by mail a week before the election from the county clerk’s office and the completed ballots must be received by that office before the polls close on Election Day.
From who is running to where to vote: Your guide to the 2019 Kentucky general elections
According to the secretary of state’s office, only 5,351 Kentuckians had voted early in person as of last Monday. Nearly 14,000 mail-in absentee ballots had been issued by county clerk offices, with 8,169 returned.
While several states now have more people voting early in person or by mail than those who vote on Election Day, this total of early voters from last week would account for only 1.3% of the projected 1 million Kentucky voters on Tuesday.
Beyond restrictions on early voting, the polls also close at 6 p.m. in both the eastern and central time zones of Kentucky, making it harder for many to vote after work. Indiana and Hawaii are the only other states to have polls close that early in their time zones, as polls in many states are open until 8 p.m.
While Kentucky law states that employees who are registered to vote are allowed time off work to vote and cannot be penalized for doing so, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office says there is no mechanism to enforce this and it is largely up to each employer.
Lastly, there are those who would like to vote, but are unregistered. While some states allow same-day voter registration, Kentuckians must be registered 28 days before the election in order to vote.
Additionally, Kentucky has one of the most restrictive laws in the country when it comes to the voting registration of those convicted of felonies.
An estimated 312,000 Kentuckians are ineligible to vote because of a felony conviction, including the more than 240,000 who have already completed their sentences. These disenfranchised Kentuckians amount to 9% of the state’s population — the third-highest rate in the country, according to a 2016 report from the Sentencing Project.
Reach reporter Joe Sonka at [email protected] or 502-582-4472 and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.