Will wait times be shorter in NKY this election?

BY NATHAN GRANGER | LINK nky REPORTER

Election Day is May 16, but Northern Kentucky voters have a handful of ways to vote, including expanded early voting and absentee access.

Still, many in the region prefer to vote in person on the day of the election. There are 121 standard, in-person polling places in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties for the 2023 primary election: 53 in Boone County, 34 in Campbell County and 34 in Kenton County.

Election Day in Northern Kentucky was not without controversy in 2022, much of which resulted from counties’ attempts to consolidate the number of places to vote. Kenton County’s consolidation, in particular, stoked ire from several local leaders.

Kentucky law grants local, county-based election boards the power to propose voting precincts and polling locations to the state board of elections based on the counties’ geography, population, availability of locations and availability of poll workers.

If a county fails to provide a plan to the state board before the deadline, it defaults to a polling plan in which there is a single polling location in each of the county’s voting precincts.

Boone County saw a decline from 63 polling locations in 2018 to 53 this year. Campbell County’s locations declined from 50 in 2018 to 34 in 2022 and 2023.

Jim Luersen, Campbell County clerk, told LINK nky that the consolidation from 2018 was because of changes in polling equipment, which allowed for the tracking of ballots in multiple precincts. The consolidation was an attempt to make the county more fiscally conservative in its operations, he said.

Kenton County saw the most aggressive consolidation, reducing polling locations to 24 in 2022 from the 47 it had in previous elections. As a result, long lines and wait times plagued the county last November, which led to vocal criticism from several Kenton County leaders.

Independence Mayor Chris Reinersman said there were significant crowds throughout the city, with people waiting up to three hours in some locations.

“There certainly can be some lines, but this is the worst I recall seeing,” he said

In a letter to both the Kentucky Board of Elections and the Kenton County Board of Elections, Covington Mayor Joe Meyer and the five-member City Commission called for a stop to additional consolidation.

“Believing voting to be a sacred right that must be protected, we ask that the Kenton Board AND the State Board of Elections move toward better voter accessibility and provide at least one voting location in each precinct,” the letter read.

Following criticism, Kenton County Clerk and Chair of the County Board of Elections Gabrielle Summe addressed previous election operations issues at a meeting of the

Kenton County Mayors Group on Feb. 18.

Summe attributed the problems in 2022 to a lack of willing poll workers and polling sites, as well as requirements that sites meet accessibility standards in the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, she said, the ballot was exceptionally long, sporting two constitutional amendments and 12 judge races, which may have extended the time voters spent in the polling booth.

Summe submitted a revised consolidation plan in March, increasing Kenton County’s polling places to 34 for this year’s election. Although that’s an increase from 24 in

2022, it still doesn’t approach the nearly 50 locations in past elections, and the consolidation remains a sore spot among many county leaders.

“In 2014, the City of Erlanger had a total of 13 precincts and 13 polling locations for 13,607 registered voters,” Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette wrote in a letter to Kentucky Election Board Chair Michael Adams in February. “By 2016, there were 14,010 registered voters yet still the same number of precincts and polling locations. However, for the 2022 elections, the City of Erlanger now has 15,807 registered voters and has been consolidated into 6 precincts and 2 polling locations.”