More Vote Centers have been announced for the November 8 General Election.
The new centers will be located at JT Alton Middle School, John Hardin High School and East Hardin Middle School in Vine Grove, bringing the countywide total to 10.
The seven previously announced sites are North Hardin High School, Pritchard Community Center, Lincoln Trail Elementary School, Lakewood Elementary School, Creekside Elementary School, West Point Schoolhouse, and West 84 Fire Station. Voters can go wherever it is convenient for them, regardless of where they live in Hardin County.
Hardin County Clerk Debbie Donnelly said the proposal for additional vote centers came up during a conversation with Secretary of State Michael Adams. She said arrangements for meeting with members of her election staff and setting up additional sites soon followed.
But Brian Smith, her opponent over the role of county clerk, said that’s not all.
According to Smith, Donnelly submitted the plan to the Kentucky Electoral Commission, which has seven polling places. Smith said he worked with other elected officials, including Vinegrove Mayor Pam Ogden, to add more polling stations.
Ogden posted on the city’s Facebook page announcing the new polling stations on Sept. 12 and included a letter to Karen Sellers, executive director of the state elections commission. In the letter, Ogden petitioned Vine Grove to add more precincts, citing problems caused by the city’s growth and the distance to the nearest polling place for residents.
In the post, Ogden credits Smith for letting her know that the city has no voting precincts.
Donnelly disputed social media statements attributed to Ogden in an interview Tuesday news enterpriseShe said the new site would be located in a wider voting area, with Vine Grove near John Hardin, Pine Valley, Helm District, and Valley Creek and South near East Hardin on New Glendale Road. He said he would provide better services to residents of the Dixie area.
The topic was taken up by both candidates at the Brushy Fork Political Forum on Saturday in Vine Grove.
“The secretary of state said, ‘Debbie, do you want more open?'” Donnelly, who spoke before Smith, said on the forum. Come on,’ he said. ”
When Smith took the stage, he reached out to his contacts in Frankfort to rally local leaders and encourage them to set up polling places in Vinegrove and other parts of the county, and Donnelly was the first I referred again to the plans for the seven locations submitted to .
“This is one[place]for every 13,000 registered voters in Hardin County,” he said.
Smith urged the county to need at least 20 to 25 polling places, calling three more polling places a “partial win.”
He said he felt Donnelly had led Brushy Fork attendees to believe that the decisions she made regarding local elections were made by someone at the state level.
The deadline to register to vote for the General Election is 4:00 PM on October 11th. It can be completed at the office or online at govote.ky.gov.
All voting is done by paper ballot. Hardin County will no longer use electronic voting machines, Donnelly said, with a new machine that guarantees a paper trail to confirm that votes have been obtained.
