A Link to the Past: Will Kentucky's Two Time Zones Affect the Election Results?

As election results from Eastern Kentucky began to trickle in, the polls were still open in Western Kentucky. Kentucky straddles the line between the Eastern Time Zone and the Central Time Zone. One can only speculate what impact this early information might have had on potential voters planning to vote at the end of the day. Kentucky’s gubernatorial race between candidates Matt Bevin (R) and Jack Conway (D) is on the national center stage as voters prepare to fill the open governor seat vacated by Democrat Steve Beshear, who is unable to run for reelection due to term limits. By many accounts, the race is too close to call.

Florida also straddles the line between the Eastern and Central time zones. Many remember the 2000 presidential election, where Florida garnered national attention following a too-close-to-call race between George W. Bush and Al Gore. Of course, Florida faced a number of other difficulties in the close presidential race. CNN’s notorious early prediction, butterfly ballots, and voter suppression were all factors to which critics pointed in the fallout from the election. Time will tell whether Kentucky’s 2015 governor’s race will face similar scrutiny.

Of course, under the First Amendment, the government cannot stop the news stations from reporting the returns even though voting is still going on in the state.  So it is up to voters to still head to the polls even if early returns are known.  If this race is very close, the losing candidate might wonder if some voters did not go to the polls because they thought the races was already over.