Many Kentucky residents may have to vote somewhere new in this year's elections. That's because dozens of counties have consolidated polling places — a move that's raised concerns about ballot access.
Leslie Collier, a Republican, is the county clerk in Lewis County, Ky. Her local board of elections consolidated 14 precinct-based voting locations in favor of just four countywide vote centers.
"I know there's gonna be hurt feelings," Lewis County Clerk Leslie Collier said."I just — it's not done with malice. It's just we don't have any money. What do you do?"Collier, a Republican, is trying her hardest to balance convenient and accessible voting with a shoestring budget. With the $50,000 the local government allocates annually, she struggles to keep voting machines up-to-date and poll workers paid.
She said she watched the primary voter turnout closely, and with it only dropping by 1 percentage point compared to the 2019 primary, she's hopeful this could be a good strategy for elections like this year's, without a presidential election, when turnout is typically a little lower. "This is something that you have legislators in both parties getting more and more frustrated about," Adams said."Like, 'We gave you this law to expand access. If you abuse it, we're just going to take it away from you.' We're not there yet, but we're watching it."Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams speaks with reporters after voting early in Louisville on Thursday. Adams, a Republican, is running for reelection.
Megan Bellamy is with the national Voting Rights Lab, a group that favors expanded voting access. She says since the pandemic they've seen nearly 100 bills concerning vote centers filed in states across the country. And Bellamy says the adoption of the vote center model doesn't really seem to be partisan either — it's more of a rural versus urban issue.
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