If you wanted to share crucial information about the future of Christian County and decided to enlist some help from organizations that have a proven record of civic engagement, which groups would you call upon?
I have some ideas — starting with the Christian County Chamber of Commerce, Pioneers Inc., our public utilities, the League of Women Voters and Focus 21st Century.
But wait. I’m getting ahead of myself.
I’m raising this question in light of a pledge from county officials to widely publicize the polling dates and locations for the Nov. 8 general election.
They want to avoid the kind of confusion that existed in the primaries earlier this year. I personally heard from several voters who didn’t realize the county’s 31 precincts would not be open as voting sites in May. Instead, there were eight voting centers, each open to any voter regardless of their address and precinct.
Earlier this month, the election board voted to double the number of voting centers to 16 on Election Day. Fiscal court members agreed to spend about $29,000 on additional voting machines, and they made clear their willingness to pay for increased communication with voters, including advertisements and two postcard mailings prior to the election.
Obviously it is the responsibility of the Christian County Clerk’s Office, the county election board and fiscal court to devise a publicity plan and pay for it. That effort began this month.
These initial steps are important. But they only go so far. As news and social media options grow and splinter, the attention of community members becomes more and more fragmented. We cannot count on any outlet or government office on its own to carry a message that reaches a majority of residents.
We need more organizations to step up and use their connections and resources to speak directly to their constituents about the very practical aspects of this upcoming election.
I saw an example of this Saturday morning when I walked through the Summer Salute festival in downtown Hopkinsville. A booth run by the local League of Women Voters had several handouts, including one that listed each of the 16 election centers that will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 8.
A voter apathy problem
The reason this kind of public affairs work needs to be embraced by civic-minded organizations is because Christian County has a problem with voter apathy. For a community that has so much going for it, we frankly have failed to tackle this problem that has been evident for several years.
As long as I’ve been a journalist in Hopkinsville (about 35 years now), I’ve heard about the importance of community behaviors and assets when economic development officials recruit new industries. I’ve been told again and again that large corporations want to bring their employees to a vibrant community that shows it cares about good schools, infrastructure and recreational facilities. But shouldn’t we also wonder what it means when fewer than 10% of our registered voters care enough to go to the polls?
In the most recent primary, there were 55,929 voters eligible to cast a ballot in Christian County. But only 5,904 votes were tallied in the U.S. Senate race open to most voters in Cristian County and contested by several Republicans and Democratic candidates. The Senate race shows a poor turnout — even when we take into account the likelihood that our county’s voter roll is artificially padded. (In a 2020 interview, Christian County Clerk Mike Kem told me he believed 10,000 people listed on the roll were Fort Campbell soldiers and family members who no longer reside here.)
Enlisting local organizations
I understand voter apathy is a problem nationwide, but for now I’m thinking strictly about what Christian County could do to address two key facts. Too many of our adults don’t care to vote because they really don’t believe their voice counts. And a large percentage of our registered voters are uninformed about when to vote and who is running for office.
We have the talent in this community to work on these issues. If we can figure out how to host more than 100,000 visitors in a single day for a solar eclipse, surely we can collaborate on voter education in a meaningful way.
Along with the League of Women Voters, we need many more organizations to take on the civic work of informing voters about the November general election. The news media, including Hoptown Chronicle, have a role. But there are about organizations that might not have considered how they could help on this issue.
I mentioned the Chamber of Commerce as a likely partner in this kind of effort because the chamber is one of the community’s oldest and best-funded organizations. It has a history of pushing for change and improvements.
And what about public utilities? Hopkinsville Water Environment Authority, Pennyrile Electric and Hopkinsville Electric System all engage with thousands of customers on a regular basis. They could insert flyers like the ones I saw at the League of Women Voters booth in their mailings.
I also mentioned the Pioneers, one of Hopkinsville’s oldest Black civic groups. They are one organization among dozens of clubs, fraternities and sororities in Christian County. I won’t try to list them all, but just to make the point, I’m thinking of Rotary, Jaycees, Junior Auxiliary, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Kiwanis and Lions. Maybe some of these groups want to help distribute flyers and posters. I can’t imagine any business that normally allows groups to hang publicity posters on bulletin boards and windows wouldn’t welcome a flyer that lists polling places.
We have a little more than 10 weeks until Election Day. We can’t entirely solve voter apathy in that time. But we can make sure that people know when and where to vote.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
