INDEPENDENCE — To help attract poll workers and make it easier for working people to vote on Election Day, Kenton Fiscal Court is urging the state to adopt polling hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

        Legislation has been pro posed in the General Assembly that would extend Kentucky's polling hours by two hours. Instead of operating from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., polls would close at 8 p.m.

        However, at the suggestion of Commissioner Dan Humpert, the fiscal court recommended state legislators approve a schedule that calls for polls to be open 12 hours, not 14.

        At the recommendation of Commissioner Barb Black, the fiscal court also agreed to send a letter to the Northern Kentucky legislative caucus explaining the difficulty that Kenton County is having finding poll workers in its growing areas.

        Polling hours of 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. would make for too long a day for poll workers, who already are putting in about 13 hours on Election Day, Kenton County Clerk Bill Aylor said Tuesday.

        “If you extend (voting) by two hours, you're looking at a minimum of a 15-hour day for poll workers,” Mr. Aylor said. “You're looking at putting on two shifts (of poll workers) or paying more money.”

        Moving Kentucky's polling hours back an hour — from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. — would not extend hours for poll workers, but it would make it easier for voters who get off work at 5 or 5:30 in the evening to make it to the polls, Mr. Aylor said.

        “You're making it easier to attract poll workers, and, at the same time, I think it's a better fit to get more people in (to vote),” Mr. Aylor said.

        On Nov. 7, interest in local races and the presidential election prompted Kenton County poll workers to keep polling places in Villa Hills open until 8:30 p.m.

        Ultimately, Mr. Aylor said that he would like to see Election Day become a national holiday, to make it easier for workers to get to the polls.

GOP backers set to party
Tone will be different from Clinton/Gore celebrations
CPS proficiency rank declines
CPS redesigns high schools
Most seniors dropped by HMOs yet to pick backup
Goal: 'Health-care independence' for seniors
Missionary loses home, but not hope
Tristate group aids quake victims
CROWLEY: One-man show
RADEL: Documentary in the making
SAMPLES: Birth was surprising, traumatic and scared the dog
Boone courts plan 50-year run
Boost sought for care tax
Campbell sees need for ball fields, trails
Cathedral bids are in
County breather
Defense fund for officers collects more than $19,000
Hamilton police vow to fight cuts
Intruders still at large
Kenton Dems set short list for chair
Kenton urges later poll hours
N.Ky. agency's new Web site to attract employers
Northside student fasts to protest new Army school
Painters compete for cash
Schools to ask for $50 million
Shooting range near completion
Sludge cleanup cost exceeds $46 million
Trial to begin in death of 8-year-old girl
Twp. OKs new zoning
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report