Governor Andy Beshear and Secretary of State Michael Adams during a Friday press conference revealed a statewide plan for the November general election.
In an effort to increase convenience and safety for Kentucky voters, early voting will begin October 13, ballot drop-boxes will be available, all Kentuckians will qualify for mail-in absentee ballots, and voting “super centers” will be set up in each county for in-person voting.
Beshear said the agreements made on how to move forward with the general election required little negotiation and that both parties wanted a successful election that would also protect people's health.
“It could be one of the larger turnouts we've seen,” Beshear said. “This is going to be a gift. Every Kentuckian who is concerned with contracting or spreading the Coronavirus has the option to request an absentee ballot to vote by mail. That means that either if you are concerned about your own health or you are concerned about those that you come into contact with and spreading, you have this option.”
Beshear said a mail in ballot can be requested through a web portal that will be open within seven days. He also said mail-in ballots must be postmarked by November 3 and received by November 6.
“So by Friday of next week, you will already be able to request your absentee ballot that should be mailed to your home,” Beshear said. “Then, we want you to complete it really fast and then return. The ballots need to be postmarked by Election Day, November 3, but this is important: they also have to be received by November 6.”
Beshear said the portal to request mail-in ballots will close October 9. He says this decision will help county clerks with gathering results on time. Beshear also said the early voting timeline beginning October 13 proposed by Adams is the longest he has experienced in the state. This will give voters three weeks before the election to cast their votes.
“The Secretary's proposal has the most robust early voting period that we've seen in Kentucky in my lifetime,” Beshear said. “So, beginning the week of October 13, for three weeks, including four hours on each Saturday, people in every county of Kentucky are going to be able to go in and cast their ballot early.”
Early voting is the safer option, Beshear said, because the density of individuals in the same location is drastically decreased.
Adams said each county will have at least one operating polling super center. He said he is hoping the state finds at least 15,000 poll volunteers. Those wanting to volunteer in one of the poll worker positions can sign up through the govoteky.com portal opening within the next week.
Adams said his previous decision to require all Kentuckians to produce a form of photo identification to
vote is currently unworkable. He said because of the pandemic, some Kentuckians have been unable to obtain a driver's license or other form of photo ID. Adams said a non-photo form of ID is sufficient to vote in state.
“I'm proud that I ran on, won on, the idea to help write and help pass Senate bill 2, which was Kentucky's photo ID law. Now in Kentucky, you have to have a photo ID to vote as a general matter. But when this law was a campaign promise of mine, when it was drafted in the legislature in the early months of this year, it was before the pandemic,” Adams said.
Beshear confirmed 679 new cases of COVID-19 during his August 14 daily briefing. The total state case count is now 38,298. Currently, there are 656 Kentuckians in the hospital for COVID-19, 147 of which are in the intensive care unit. Beshear reported 8 new deaths related to COVID-19. The state’s positivity rate is 5.68%.
“I'm glad that it is below six, which we had only reached for a couple of days,” Beshear said. “We have got to get that lower. The White House even said for regular reopening, we need to get that number under 5%.”
The total number of kids with confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kentucky is 77.
“We're seeing an explosion of younger people, school age kids. There are 77 under 18. That is pretty significant,” Beshear said. “We're at a time when I believe that we can do it successfully in September. In my core, I want to get our kids back in class. I want to get my kids back in class.
My job is to tell people when I don't believe it's safe, even if it's unpopular, and even if it makes people call you names that it is my job to make sure I do the very best I can for Kentuckians.”
