Eligibility

In the United States you have to be 18 to vote by the general election, but you can register before that. You have to be a U.S citizen to vote in the election, as well as you have to be a resident of the United States for at least 30 days. To zoom in even further, you have to be a resident of Kentucky for at least 28 days prior to vote in this upcoming election. In Kentucky, if you want to vote as a convicted felon you’re out of luck unless your get a pardon from your judge. You also are unable to vote if you’ve been deemed “mentally incompetent.” Lastly you can not under any circumstances vote in other states general elections. 

How to Register

In Kentucky, you’re actually able to register at 16. When you register you put down what political party you want to be registered under. The main ones are Democrat, Republican, and Independent. There are other political parties however you’re advised to just register as Democrat or Republican because you have more voting opportunities. You can register three different ways, in person, online, or by mail. 

Deadlines for registration are October 11

If you want to register online, here is the link you need to fill out.

If you want to register by mail you have to print and fill out a document. Here is the link. You will also have to mail the registration to your County Clerks Office. If you don’t know who your County Clerk is click on the link here.

If you want to register in person you have to fill out the same document as the people who mail in their registration and go to your County Clerk’s office to turn it in. If you don’t know who your County Clerk is and need access to the document for registration use the links above.

An important note is to also please be sure you get your absentee ballot by October 25, making sure even if you’re absent for whatever reason you may have, you can still vote. If you need an absentee ballot click here and you will have to get in touch with your County Clerk. 

Working at the Polls

Did you know you can actually work at the polls? If you are over the age of 18, are registered to vote, and have completed training you’re able to work at the polls. Training is required but you get paid $40 for it. Working during the election pays $260, so you make $300 in total. You have to get to the polls at 5:15 on election day and you wouldn’t be allowed to leave until the last person has voted. If you’re interesting in this job click the link here to sign up.

Voting is Important

While voting may not be your favorite thing to do, it is so important that you vote for every election you are allowed to vote for. Your opinion matters and if you want to see your community, city, state, country, etc, flourish than you have to go to the polls and vote because you are a person who can help make that change. Also many people have fought for the right to vote and it is such a huge privilege that we get in the United States that once you’re of age you can vote. So please go out and vote November 8. If you don’t know where to vote click the link here for a place near you. 

Mayoral Election

Coming up November 8, it’s an important day for Kentucky citizens. It’s voting day for the general election. On November 8, Louisville residents will be able to vote for the next mayor. Greg Fisher has been Louisville’s mayor for 11 years, and is on his third term. In the primary election for mayor, held in May, Democrat Craig Greenberg and Republican Bill Dieruf won their respective primaries and are now the mayoral candidates for Louisville. It’s extremely important to vote for who you think will be the best mayor for Louisville. If you don’t know a lot about the candidates here is some information to better learn what they bring to the table.

About Craig Greenburg (D)- 

Greenburg has a lot of hometown charm, he was born in Long Island, New York, but was raised right here in Louisville. He’s also a JCPS Ballard Highschool graduate. Greenburg graduated from the University of Michigan and then went on to Harvard for his law degree. Greenburg is an attorney as well as a business owner and did a lot of work on the 21C hotels in Louisville. His campaign is called “Run with Craig,” because Greenburg is an avid runner.

About Bill Dieruf (Rep)-  

Dieruf also has a lot of hometown charm. He went to St. Xavier high school, and went to the University of Kentucky for accounting. Dieruf is a previous business owner, he was a councilman for Jeffersontown, and is now the mayor of Jeffersontown. Dieruf campaign focuses on “Mayor for Everyone,” so everyone feels like they are a part of the city.

Greenberg’s Beliefs: 

Greenburg pushes for public safety. That is his most fought for point he makes. He wants people to feel safe and for Louisville to have less crime and just to be a safer living environment. His eyes really opened when he got shot earlier this year in his office and now it’s his most advocated opinion he uses for running for office. 

Greenburg also wants to make Louisville more just by addressing that systemic racism is real and the metro and everyone for that matter need to put or at least try to put a stop to it. He also wants to make all neighborhoods nicer to live in by adding parks, grocery stores, and more funding into low income neighborhoods. Hewants to make home owning easier by putting a stop to homeowners being priced out of their homes. Greenburg wants more affordable housing. Lastly he wants to put more money into small businesses and minority owned businesses.

Greenburg wants to put more money into schools. He especially wants to put more funding into libraries for schools to make the library’s as nice as possible and as accessible as possible. He also wants to help with Internet accessibility because all internet tends to be down

Greenburg wants to go green, he wants to make a plan to make more public transportation carbon neutral and he wants Louisville to become carbon neutral. He wants to use more solar panel technology throughout businesses, houses and everything in between. Lastly he wants to ensure a safe neighborhood environment so people feel comfortable walking more places so people can reduce their carbon footprint.

Dierufs Beliefs: 

Dieruf is big on public safety, On his website it even states that, “Public safety is my number one priority,” Dieruf wants violent crimes dropped in Louisville. Dieruf also wants there to be rankings that are better put in place for LMPD officers so they don’t have inexperienced officers doing big tasks that more experienced officers should be doing. On top of that he also wants intelligence lead officers taking down criminals or people that are deemed as “dangerous.” Dieruf also wants youth detention centers to re-open so that minors can be held accountable if they do something illegal and dangerous. 

Dieruf also wants more economic development to show. One of the things he wants to do is help entrepreneurs that own small businesses because they are important in a city like Louisville to keep its charm and economy flowing.Dieruf also wants to have a safe downtown so people feel more comfortable coming down there and growing the economy. Dieruf also thinks that workforce development in case of an emergency is very important for the safety of everyone who would be included in a crisis if it were to happen. He also wants to make sure minority owned businesses get the help they need.

Dieruf lastly believes that school should be a better place. He wants to make students feel safe at school but enforcing school officers. He also acknowledges that mental health can be very drastic in a school setting but he doesn’t believe that it’s an either or thing. He also believes that learning should be relevant and students shouldn’t be learning things that are too dated or not correct anymore. Lastly he believes that pre-preschool programs are vital for student success. He wants to enforce this because by the time children get into elementary school they have to learn how to read, write, and do math and this is very hard to put especially on a new mind so Dieruf wants to make sure that students are going into elementary school with the right foot forward.

Two different people, two different political parties, and two different campaigns. Well some of their ideas may be similar, Greenburg and Dieruf are very different people who will run the city in a different way. That is why everyone is urged to vote at the general election on November 8. It is very important that you choose which candidate you think will run the city best Based on their beliefs, plans, and actions and then of course take your own beliefs into consideration.