LOUISVILLE, Ky. — At the Kentucky Capitol Building on Nov. 10, an oversight committee met to discuss ways to fix issues seen on election day.
One of the issues that seemed to be at the top of most official's minds on Thursday was the long lines some voters faced.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams testified before the oversight committee, thanking legislators for funding the expansion of the elections. He said the lines people faced on election day could have been longer without the early voting days.
However, we had reports of some voters waiting in line for several hours before they could vote.
Representative Jason Nemes (R) - District 33 called it a form of voter suppression, even saying plans should have never been approved for some places in Kentucky.
"This is unacceptable, if it had rained how many other people would have left?" Nemes said. "We're looking for voter suppression in America. It happened in Oldham county this year."
Secretary Adams has his own theory of how to avoid Election Day headaches in the future.
"More than four times as many voters voted Tuesday as voted in the three early voting days combined," Adams said. "The lesson here is that, in 2023, in order to reduce lines, we need more voting locations, not more voting days."
Adams suggested two ways to expand polling locations.
- Granting emergency powers to give counties flexibility to consolidate voting locations but must get approval from governor and Secretary of state, something Kentucky did in 2020.
- Creating a formula that would set a minimum on the number of voting locations needed.
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