FRANKFORT, Ky. (KT) – Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is predicting less than 46 percent or more voters will turn out on Election Day next week.
She told reporters during a press conference in her office on Tuesday that absentee vote totals slightly ahead of 2014, the last mid-term election.
“My projection Is that the 2018 General Election will be consistent with prior mid-terms, at 46 percent or above. That being said, my hope is the voters of Kentucky prove me wrong and that we don’t have nearly 60 percent of Kentuckians sitting on the sidelines.”
Grimes said Kentucky couldn’t hold elections in the over 3,700 polling places across Kentucky, without the help of more than 15,000 precinct workers, some of whom have done it for a long time. “We have people like Elizabeth Neal in Powell County, who has served 63 years, and will be helping us conduct our election this year.”
She also wanted to remind Kentuckians about changes to the state’s electioneering law. The ban on any kind of electioneering on behalf or against any candidate or issue is now within 100 feet of a polling location, which also includes sites where in-person absentee voting is currently taking place. An exception is adjacent private property.
While language of the proposed constitutional amendment on crime victim notification known as “Marsy’s Law” was thrown out last month by Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate, who found it vague and uninformative and ordered the State Board of Elections not to certify the results pending appeal by supporters Grimes encouraged Kentuckians to vote their choice on the issue.
“Until we have the Supreme Court, which will likely weigh in on the issue, folks should cast their votes, the votes are going to be recorded, it’s ultimately whether the vote will actually be certified by the State Board of Elections, whether a court of law is going to allow that.”
One thing that is different in absentee voting this year, according to Grimes, is that absentee voting in the Sixth Congressional District is higher than in 2014, where Democrat Amy McGrath is challenging Republican incumbent Andy Barr. “Obviously that is a competitive race that has caught the nation’s attention,” she said.