Lawsuit seeking to keep polls open late in Louisville has been dismissed

Despite lengthy delays at several polling locations Tuesday morning in Louisville, a judge ruled that polls in Jefferson County should still close at 6 p.m., although voters waiting in line at that time will be allowed to cast their ballots.

The Kentucky Democratic Party and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky filed a lawsuit Tuesday in the wake of those delays that sought to allow polls to open by 8 p.m. The party's chief executive, Morgan Eaves, referred to “reports of significant delays”.

But Judge Eric Haner of the Jefferson Circuit ruled against the plaintiffs. His order said the plaintiffs failed to establish that voters were denied the right to vote because polls remained open, and said the relief sought was “totally disproportionate to everything that happened.” Staying open until 8 p.m. would also violate a section of the state constitution that sets voting times, the judge added.

Ashley Tinius, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Clerk, said the office will “always abide by everything the law requires” and urged voters to get to the polls by 6 p.m. No one who shows up at the polls at this time will be turned away, she emphasized.

In a statement following the ruling, Eaves said the party was “extremely disappointed” with the ruling, noting that the Kentucky Republican Party argued against it.

“These disruptions were not only unacceptable – they deprived Kentuckians of their fundamental right to vote,” Eaves’ statement said. “…Instead of fighting for voters in Jefferson County, the Kentucky Republican Party argued against it, claiming that the Republican-majority General Assembly was the only body that could extend voting hours. This absurd claim is an extension of their relentless obsession with eliminating the separation of powers within our government.”

Andy Westberry, spokesman for the Kentucky Republican Party, said the judge's opinion “speaks for itself” and that the state constitution and laws clearly state there is no procedure for keeping polls open after 6 p.m

The lawsuit, which listed the Kentucky Democratic Party as a plaintiff and named Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw and the Jefferson County Board of Elections as defendants, sought a two-hour extension of voting hours in the county, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m EST required.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, and reports quickly emerged of delays at several polling locations around Louisville.

“Significant nationwide delays in voting procedures began almost immediately at 6 a.m.,” the filing said.

At Hartstern Elementary School, a poll worker reported that e-pollbooks stopped working “immediately” after the site opened, with crashes occurring about every three minutes until the problem was resolved with a system reboot around 9:30 a.m.

The lawsuit also quoted Louisville Democratic Party Chairman Logan Gatti as saying he had received “hundreds” of reports of wait times of more than three hours at “a dozen or more” polling locations in the city.

The lawsuit followed talk of litigation from the ACLU of Kentucky and delays of up to a few hours at polling locations in Louisville such as the Beechmont Community Center and Norton Commons Elementary. Additionally, 68 election-related problems were reported in Jefferson County as of Tuesday morning, 41 of which were related to the voting machines, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said.

The county's election process is also being monitored by the U.S. Department of Justice, a decision that came before morning delays and incident reports following a series of lengthy investigations in Louisville and other areas of the state.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey, the Democrat who represents Louisville in the U.S. House of Representatives, expressed support for the lawsuit in a statement. He said he had previously spoken to Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams about the delays and was pleased with the response.

“We in Kentucky are fortunate that voting rights is a bipartisan issue, and I look forward to the party and Secretary Adams completing this matter quickly and fairly,” McGarvey’s statement said. “Kentuckians can rest assured that our voting systems remain secure and their votes will be counted.”

In Jefferson County, around 113,000 people took part in no-excuse early voting leading up to the election, and more than 656,000 across the commonwealth. Adams explained in a post on

Reporters Killian Baarlaer, Leo Bertucci and Olivia Evans contributed to this report.

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