There’s a compromise in place that will open more polling locations for the February 21 special election to replace Congressman Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, in the state Senate.
Secretary of State Michael Adams announced that the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office has agreed to provide 12 voting locations, rather than 4, for the February 21 special election for Senate District 19.
“I’m grateful to Superintendent Marty Pollio and Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw for working with us to ensure fair access for our voters,” Adams said in a statement. “When we focus on solving problems instead of politics, miracles happen. I’ll keep fighting to open our polls.”
This quadrupling of voter access follows negotiations undertaken by Adams, who took action after concluding that 4 voting locations for a voter population of nearly 100,000. The Kentucky Board of Elections denied Holclaw’s plans to hold the election with only four polling locations, to her frustration last week.
Adams’s office says he spoke with Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio last week, then convened a meeting with JCPS and State Board of Elections Staff before delivering recommendations to the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office.
The agreed-to new voting locations are:
- Atherton High School
- Audubon Elementary
- Hawthorne Elementary
- Highland Middle School
- Seneca High School
- Smyrna Elementary
- Southern High School
- Watterson Elementary
The eight schools made available by JCPS will serve in addition to the four voting locations originally proposed by the County Clerk: the Cyril Allgeier Community Center, the Central Government Center, the Saint Matthews Community Center, and the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office Election Center. These four locations also will serve as early voting locations on February 16, 17 and 18, pursuant to Adams’ early voting legislation enacted in 2021.
The plan will not be final until the State Board of Elections holds a special meeting this week to consider the revised voting plan.
The Feb. 21 election will pit Democratic candidate Cassie Chambers Armstrong and Republican candidate Misty Glin against one another in the heavily Democratic district. The two are seeking to replace former Democratic state Sen. Morgan McGarvey, who resigned in January after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
