Kentucky gets crafty with shortage of election poll workers

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A shortage of poll workers could be brewing in Kentucky - but these beer cans aim to stop that.

The Kentucky Secretary of State’s office partnered with the state Guild of Brewers to promote poll worker recruitment and voter registration on beer cans in order to prevent “a poll worker crisis” stressed by the coronavirus pandemic, Secretary of State Michael Adams announced Tuesday.

His partnership with craft breweries across the state includes labels designed with QR codes that take drinkers to a website where they can register to vote and apply to work the polls in the Nov. 3 election.

The pandemic has added to the challenges of recruiting poll workers since many workers are over the age of 60 and are considered to be especially vulnerable to the virus, news outlets have reported.

“There is a critical need for poll workers as we head toward November’s general election,” The Lexington Herald-Leader quoted Adams as saying. “We need younger generations to step up and be good citizens, and so we enlisted the help of Kentucky’s craft breweries to reach them.”

Elections in Kentucky typically require about 15,000 poll workers, but Adams said his office has recorded just 3,000 for the upcoming election as of Sept. 1. Without enough poll workers, voters could face longer lines at fewer polling places, he added.

Monnik Beer Co. in Louisville, Pivot Brewing Company in Lexington, Dreaming Creek Brewery in Richmond and Wooden Cask Brewery in Newport are participating in the campaign.