A Kentucky official was forced to remind Bluegrass State residents that they cannot vote in Tuesday’s elections — including in far-flung states like New York.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a member of the Republican Party, took to social media after fielding complaints from constituents.
“We’re getting calls about polls being closed,” he wrote on X on Tuesday. “They are closed because we do not have elections today. Kentucky votes next year.”
“You cannot vote today in Kentucky for the mayor of New York City or the Governor of Virginia,” he added. “Sorry.”
Numerous states — including California, New Jersey and Maine — have off-year elections scheduled for today. Many of them are being closely monitored by political observers, with the results expected to serve as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s first ten months in office.
But, thanks to an odd quirk, Kentucky is not one of these states.
“In 1992, Kentuckians voted to amend our state constitution to give themselves, and election officials, a year off from elections once every four years,” Adams told the Herald-Leader.
The amendment — upheld by voters last year — gave local officials who won their elections in 1993 a single-year extension on their four-year terms. And since 1998, they’ve been on the ballot in midterm elections alongside candidates for the General Assembly and Congress.
Adams expressed some frustration with the ongoing confusion, writing in a follow-up post, “Have I mentioned my repeated call for civic education.”
