Christian County election officials have started a push to inform voters about all of their options for casting a ballot in the November general election.
Information about where and when to vote is outlined in a Facebook post that the Christian County Clerk’s Office published on Wednesday.
It follows recent meetings by the county election board, where citizens and public officials weighed in about the number and location of polling places, and the need for better communication to share that information with voters.
County Clerk Mike Kem and others have acknowledged they should have done more prior to the May primaries to publicize the county’s eight voting centers. Many voters reportedly did not know that their old precinct polling places had been replaced by voting centers.
As a result of discussions about improving access to polling places, the election board agreed to increase the number of voting centers from eight to 16.
Kem, in a telephone interview Friday, told Hoptown Chronicle that his office will be sending postcards with election information to every registered voter who has cast a ballot in at least one of the last four general elections. He plans two mailings to every voter in that category before Nov. 8. Each mailing will cost an estimated $6,000.
Other efforts to inform voters of polling times and locations will include paid advertisements with Hopkinsville’s two commercial radio stations and the Kentucky New Era.
“The fiscal court has pretty much said they want it out there, so they are going tp pay for whatever I do,” Kem said.
Kem has a few speaking engagements lined to ask community leaders to help spread the word. He said he’ll address meetings of the League of Women Voters, Leadership Hopkinsville-Christian County and Hopkinsville Rotary. He added he is open to ideas about additional ways to publicize information about general election voting.
On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, all registered voters in Christian County will be able to cast a ballot between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. at any of the following voting centers:
- James E. Bruce Convention Center
- Christian County Courthouse
- Christian County Senior Citizens Center
- Oak Grove Community Center
- Indian Hills Elementary School
- New Barren Springs Church
- New Palestine Baptist Church
- Friendship House
- Sinking Fork Baptist Church
- Pembroke Baptist Church
- Crofton City Hall
- South Christian Elementary School
- Walnut Street Center (Boys and Girls Club)
- Concord Baptist Church
- Cedar Grove Baptist Church
- Hopkinsville Middle School
Any voter may also cast a ballot during early voting — from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3, Friday, Nov. 4, and Saturday, Nov. 5 — at the Christian County Senior Center or the James E. Bruce Convention Center.
There are also options for absentee voting — either by mail or in-house at the courthouse — for voters who have certain qualifying reasons, such as a planned medical treatment on Election Day, being out of town for work or being away at college.
Voters who want to cast an absentee ballot by mail need to make a request between Sept. 24 and Oct. 25 through the Kentucky Secretary of State’s online portal. Completed mail-in ballots must be received in the Christian County Clerk’s Office by Election Day.
The in-house absentee voting at the courthouse will be conducted between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Oct. 26 through 28 and Oct. 31 through Nov. 2.
Voters will be choosing among candidates in city, county, judicial and state legislative races. In addition, Kentuckians will be asked to vote “yes” or “no” on a constitutional amendment that, if passed, would state there is no constitutional right to abortion in the state.
Kentucky residents who will be 18 by Election Day have until 4 p.m. on Oct. 11 to register as a voter.
This story was updated to include County Clerk Mike Kem’s comments about his plans to publicize voting information.
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.
