KENTUCKY — Secretary of State Michael Adams found an unusual partner to help get the word out about Kentucky's poll worker shortage: the Kentucky Guild of Brewers.
From the partnership came beer labels that solicit volunteers to work the polls and encourage Kentuckians to register to vote. Each label features a QR code that leads to govoteky.com where people can register to vote and apply to be a poll worker.
“Last year I testified to the legislature that we had a poll worker crisis in Kentucky,” Adams said. “COVID-19 certainly hasn’t helped. We need younger generations to step up and be good citizens, and so we enlisted the help of Kentucky’s craft breweries to reach them.”
Adams has previously said Kentucky is facing a critical need for poll workers. During June's primary, according to Adams, many voting precincts were unable to open because there were not enough poll workers.
The campaign is dubbed "SOS From Your SOS" and can be found at four Kentucky breweries.
Charley Hamilton, owner of Dreaming Creek Brewery said, “When we are asked to help the Secretary of State with the ‘SOS From Your SOS’ project, Dreaming Creek Brewery jumped at the chance. We along with several other microbreweries around the Commonwealth were eager to help support the initiative by getting custom labels to help promote and make the information easily accessible through QR codes. With COVID-19 still a strong concern going into voting season, poll workers are in short supply. This initiative will hopefully bring attention to this and get some new folks to help out working the polls come voting time.”
If you want to pick up a cold one, they can be found at the following locations:
- Monnik Beer Co. 1036 E Burnett Ave, Louisville, KY 40217;
- Pivot Brewing Company 1400 Delaware Ave, Lexington, KY 40505;
- Dreaming Creek Brewery 109 E Irvine St, Richmond, KY 40475; and
- Wooden Cask Brewery 629 York St, Newport, KY 41071.