FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said Wednesday that Kentucky’s four veterans centers will serve as polling places.
“We owe it all to Kentucky’s 304,000 military veterans for their service and sacrifice in preserving and protecting our precious freedoms, particularly the right to vote,” Grimes said in a statment. “Making sure these veterans — especially those in the care of our state’s veterans centers — can easily access the ballot box is the most fundamental way we can honor their service.”
Grimes’ office worked with the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs and local officials in Hardin, Hopkins, Perry and Jessamine counties, where the centers are located.
“Our military veterans have dutifully served their country and we owe them a great debt of gratitude for faithfully defending our freedoms. At the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, we work every day to make sure our over 304,000 veterans and their families receive all the benefits and services they have earned,” said Brig. Gen. Benjamin F. Adams III, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs. “We are particularly mindful that these veterans’ service and sacrifice has helped protect and enshrine the right to vote for all Americans, so we support any effort that enhances their access to polling locations so they can cast a ballot.”
“Establishing the Commonwealth’s veterans centers as polling locations is most appropriate,” said Phillip Pittman, organizer of Honor Flight Kentucky. “Throughout the history of our great nation, it has been the veteran who sacrificed greatly to protect our freedoms and values, not the least of which is the right to vote. The significance of voting at one of these four facilities should be an inspiration to all Kentuckians as they exercise this solemn responsibility.”
