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Grimes Visits MSU for ‘GO VOTE Kentucky’

Morehead State University

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes visited the Morehead State University campus Thursday, April 14, to hold a town hall meeting to promote the “GO VOTE Kentucky! Tour.”

Grimes will spoke with students, professors, faculty and staff about online voter registration and offered a brief tutorial in the Crager Room of the Adron Doran University Center.

“Now more than 17,000 Kentuckians have used GoVoteKY.com – it’s a huge success. The energy is palpable around Kentucky,” said Grimes. “Every day, hundreds of people are going online to register or update their registration. It’s quick and easy – and there are no lines.”

More than 1,000 18-year-olds have used the portal to register for the first time. A 98-year-old updated her registration with the online portal shortly after it officially launched, she said.

Online voter registration is the latest of Grimes’ initiatives to make the registration process quick and convenient in an effort to close Kentucky’s registration gap. About one-third of eligible Kentuckians are not registered to vote. The registration gap is wider among youth and minorities.

Previously, eligible voters previously had to visit their county clerk’s office or mail a voter registration application.

Grimes also spoke about the need to increase dismal turnout rates in Kentucky elections. Only 25 percent of the 522,880 total registered voters in Kentucky’s 5th Congressional District, which includes Morehead, participated in the 2015 General Election.

“Eastern Kentucky’s participation rate in the last year’s General Election was well below the rest of the state – the state turnout rate was only 30 percent. If we hope to fix more of the problems that ail us, we need more Kentuckians voting, not fewer,” said Grimes.

Dr. Charles Derrickson, a retired MSU professor, attended Grimes’ meeting on the campus. He said the new tool is a breakthrough for Kentucky elections.

“I have been working with students for my entire career, and I know GoVoteKY.com is the type of transformative tool our state needs to get not just more young people but more Kentuckians of all ages involved in our elections,” said Derrickson. “I commend Secretary Grimes for having the vision and the follow-through to get this done. She should be proud.”

Grimes is promoting the online portal as part of a statewide tour, which will included a visit to each public university, encouraging Kentuckians to register and participate in the upcoming primary election.  In the 2015 general election, a total of 75 percent of Kentuckians stayed home.

Grimes said GoVoteKY.com will improve the accuracy of voter rolls and will lead to a major cost savings for the state, as well as decreasing workloads for county clerks.

The deadline to register to vote in Kentucky’s May primary is April 18.