Kentuckians Thought They Could Vote for the Mayor of New York City?
Wise Brothers—Chattanooga, TN
The nationwide “get out the vote” effort is strong in EVEN-numbered years, especially every four when we’re electing a new president. But in ODD-numbered years, elections are more sporadic.Voter turnout was stronger than expected yesterday in Kentucky . . . particularly since Kentucky wasn’t holding elections.
Social media in the Bluegrass State was lit up with complaints from people showing up to vote . . . and finding the doors closed and locked. It got so intense, that state officials came forward to calm people down. Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams put out this statement: “We’re getting calls about polls being closed. They are closed because we do not have elections today. Kentucky votes NEXT year!!
“You cannot vote today in Kentucky for the mayor of New York City or the Governor of Virginia. Sorry.” Some social media posts did seem to suggest people thought some OTHER state’s elections were somehow nationwide, which would be a civics FAIL. But there IS a glass-half-full way of looking at it: Maybe some people were showing up out of habit, thinking that if other states were voting, they might have local things on the ballot too.
Democracy is stronger when EVERYONE participates, and knows their vote matters. Now, the next step is just checking to see if your state is holding any elections. AND researching what’s on the ballot ahead of time. One person on social media joked, “If we had an election this year, there’d be signs absolutely EVERYWHERE. Get it together folks.”
