On National Poll Worker Recruitment Day, Secretary of State Michael Adams is announcing a new initiative to help promote poll worker recruitment and voter registration.
According to Adams, there is a critical need for poll workers as November’s general election nears. A normal election requires about 15,000 poll workers in Kentucky. During the primary, many voting precincts were unable to open because there were not enough poll workers to staff them.
In response, the Secretary of State’s Office formed a partnership with the Kentucky Guild of Brewers in an effort to get the word out. Together they designed beer labels that solicit volunteers to work the polls and encourage Kentuckians to register to vote. The labels have QR codes directing to govoteky.com where people who enjoy an occasional cold one can register to vote and apply to be a poll worker.
“Last year I testified to the legislature that we had a poll worker crisis in Kentucky,” Adams said. “COVID-19 certainly hasn’t helped. 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.”
The campaign, SOS From Your SOS, is now being carried by four Kentucky breweries. Charley Hamilton, owner of Dreaming Creek Brewery said, “When we are asked to help the Secretary of State with the ‘SOS From Your SOS’ project, Dreaming Creek Brewery jumped at the chance. We along with several other microbreweries around the Commonwealth were eager to help support the initiative by getting custom labels to help promote and make the information easily accessible through QR codes. With COVID-19 still a strong concern going into voting season, poll workers are in short supply. This initiative will hopefully bring attention to this and get some new folks to help out working the polls come voting time.”
You can pick up the different beers at:
- Monnik Beer Co. 1036 E Burnett Ave, Louisville, KY 40217,
- Pivot Brewing Company 1400 Delaware Ave, Lexington, KY 40505
- Dreaming Creek Brewery 109 E Irvine St, Richmond, KY 40475
- Wooden Cask Brewery 629 York St, Newport, KY 41071.