LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — With less than four days until Election Day, Secretary of State Michael Adams made a trip to Fayette County to plead with voters to take advantage of early voting to ensure short lines and safety on Nov. 3.
Adams expressed his concerns Friday morning at Garrett Morgan Elementary School in Lexington.
"If there's any one place in the state when people need to go ahead and vote now instead of waiting, it's Fayette because what you see is what you got," he said. "There's now new sites being introduced on Nov. 3 in Jefferson -- they're going from four early sites to 20 sites on Nov. 3. We don't have that type of expansion here in Fayette. The sites that we have are what you got, so please don't wait to the last minute."
Adams said on average about 70% of voters are turning out in counties across the state. Factoring in how many have voted at the polls or turned in absentee ballots thus far, the Adams projected at least 40,000 Fayette County residents will still vote, meaning about 10,000 need to vote per day to keep lines as short as possible. So far in Fayette County, only about 2,500 in-person voters are casting their ballots per day.
"Here's a bright spot, Fayette County is actually leading the state in terms of the proportion of votes that have been cast," Adams said. "If you add the absentee requests plus the in-person Fayette County so first place, but the bad news is, because there's not an expansion of locations on Nov. 3 beyond what we have now, we need people to go ahead and utilize this now."
Adams, a Republican, stressed his trip to Garrett Morgan Elementary Friday morning was not a political stunt. He referenced the fact that both presidential candidates, as well as several local candidates, voted early.
"We're not doing this in a political way," he said. "I'm showing up in a Democratic county to encourage people to go ahead and vote early. There's nothing political about this. I think if we keep this system depoliticized, we'll have a better election system."
If there are voters who were planning to go in-person to vote but now have contracted COVID-19, Adams explained there is a medical emergency provision available by calling the county clerk's office.
For a full list of Fayette County polling locations, click here.
