The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
June 24, 2020

Kentucky Slashes Polling Places by 95%, Causing Election Day Chaos
------------------------------------------------------------------

Voters went to the polls Tuesday in New York, Kentucky, Virginia and
other states for primary elections marred by long lines and fears over
the coronavirus. In Kentucky, officials slashed the number of polling
places from 3,700 to just 170 - a 95% reduction. In Louisville, which
has Kentucky's largest African American population, just one polling
place was open: the Kentucky Exposition Center. At 6 p.m., officials
locked the building, even as up to 200 voters were stuck in traffic
waiting to find parking spots. In a dramatic scene, scores of people
banged on doors and windows demanding the right to vote. They were
allowed inside just before 6:30, after a judge ordered a half-hour
reprieve.

Mother: "We need justice. We need peace. We all need to come together.
We should love one another. We shouldn't have to go through all this. I
got a daughter right here. She's 18 years old."

Daughter: "Eighteen."

Mother: "She's a first-time voter."

Daughter: "In my very first."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc Connell easily won the Republican
Party's nomination in Kentucky. His Democratic challenger will be either
progressive state Representative Charles Booker or former Marine fighter
pilot Amy Mc Grath. Mc Grath has an eight-point lead over Booker with
about half of precincts reporting, though a large number of absentee
ballots remain to be counted, and final results aren't expected until at
least June 30.


.