FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams says his life has been threatened over this election year. He tweeted the comments in response to a story shared by a ProPublica reporter.
My life has been threatened, and my hardworking, nonpartisan staff routinely are verbally abused. This is not OK. https://t.co/nl1OGCHgik
— KY Sec. of State Michael Adams (@KYSecState) August 21, 2020
Executive Director Jared Dearing of the Kentucky Board of Elections says he too received threats right before Kentucky's primary this year.
In one of the recorded messages to Dearing an unidentified man said, "You should drive (unintelligible) off a cliff, go find a gun and kill yourself, please, you don't deserve to be alive."
Despite the hateful calls, Dearing keeps his head up saying," I don't know a county clerk who won't bend over backwards for one of our voters to make sure they have a voting process."
As the November election draws near, Dearing hopes civility wins. He says people need to plan to vote to help guarantee a smooth experience.
Dearing says the portal for voting absentee will open Monday and early voting starts October 13 and will go through November 2 including Saturdays.
