LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Advocacy groups are calling for extended voting time in Kentucky, citing long lines in one of the state’s largest cities.

What You Need To Know


  • ACLU of Kentucky, NAACP chapter request extended voting time

  • Lexington sees long lines at polling sites

  • Louisville judge allows 30-minute extension on voting at fairgrounds

  • Booker, Mcgrath file injuctions for extended voting hours

The ACLU of Kentucky, the state’s NAACP chapter and other groups sent a letter to the state’s Board of Elections requesting a one-hour extension in counties that have had long lines. Polls in the state’s eastern time zone close at 6 p.m.

Lexington’s lone polling sites had long lines at some points on Tuesday, but voting in Louisville’s only voting site had not seen similar delays. Images on social media showed a long line of voters at the Lexington polling site after the 6 p.m. cutoff.

“These long wait times have the potential to discourage voters from exercising their right to vote,” said the letter addressed to state Board of Elections executive director Jared Dearing and general counsel Taylor Brown.

A judge in Louisville also allowed a 30-minute extension Tuesday night on voting at the fairgrounds in Louisville to allow for last minute walk-ins to cast their ballots. Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Charles Booker and Amy Mcgrath filed injuctions to extend voting hours to 9 p.m. in Louisville.

Kentucky’s Secretary of State, Michael Adams said despite some delays, Kentucky has been “a national success story.”

“Look at the turnout,” Adams told reporters at the fairgrounds site in Louisville on Tuesday. “Turnout is through the roof.”

The state allowed all registered voters to send absentee ballots by mail and had two weeks of early voting ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Adams said the state typically sees about 20% turnout for a primary election, but he expects it to exceed 30% in this primary.

In Tuesday’s headlining race, Amy McGrath is trying to hold off a late surge from Booker, a first-term state legislator, as she fought to become the Democratic nominee against Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Booker’s campaign gained momentum after he attended recent protests against the March police killing of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor in her Louisville home.

 

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