We HAVE to talk about Kentucky- the state were Breonna Taylor was murdered 100 DAYS ago by police- and how they have set up their primary election happening TOMORROW. If this isn't voter suppression, I don't know what else you call it.

Tomorrow's KY primary election includes voting for which candidate will run against Mitch McConnell for a seat in the Senate. Keep in mind he's been the Majority Leader of the United States Senate since 2015 and it is incredibly difficult to vote-out an incumbent. (VOTE Y'ALL)

KY moved their primary to June 23 due to COVID and passed an executive order back in April to allow all registered Kentuckians to request a vote-by-mail ballot. You had to submit this request by June 15. I should note that requesting an absentee ballot is normal for most states.

There are now two huge issues. The first being that reportedly thousands of people have yet to receive their ballot which must be postmarked by June 23rd or it is invalid. I would assume this is partly due to the huge increase of requests. However the second issue is worse.

Kentucky has now eliminated polling places by the THOUSANDS. They have slashed almost 3,700 polling locations to 170. **170** For the entire STATE. That is 3.5 million registered voters who, if didn't receive an absentee ballot, are expected to be spread out across 170 locations.

KY did implement "early voting" to try to combat this, but it required making an appointment by contacting their county clerk’s office. I use quotation marks because that burden is pretty heavy. I have experience working early-voting polling places and it was dead.

Early voting is a new concept voters have to be educated on- and it isn't easy. I was in a vote center in CA that was open 11 days before the election and we got excited to see double digits for a day. Of course on Election Day, we had a huge line, especially in the last hour.

I'm ALL about having early voting- it gives more flexibility, therefore accessibility, for voters to vote. It also works best to not be tied to a single location. In OC, if you were registered anywhere in the county, you could go to any vote center. Very accessible! I digress-

"Jefferson County, home to Louisville and the largest Black community in the state, will have all in-person voters on Tuesday gather at the city's large convention center."

1 polling place for 616,000 registered voters where half of Black KY voters live. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/06/kentucky-slashes-polling-places-voting-rights-mcgrath-booker-lebron-james/

Voter suppression isn't new and its criminal that it keeps happening. KY is traditionally a red state with very few exceptions and the fact that their senator is the majority leader speaks volumes about what is going on. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/politics/kentucky-poll-locations/index.html

Do NOT forget this is the state where Breonna Taylor was murdered. One of the three officers has been fired and that's literally it.

You HAVE to vote for people who are on the right side of this fight- especially when they are trying so very hard to prevent people from doing so.

And trust- I used to think politics was dumb and complicated and didn't effect me at all. That's exactly white privilege. Laws are generally written in my favor, so why worry?

ALL OF THIS IS WHY. Politics is in everything we do. If you aren't paying attention, it hurts others.