When you think of places the state's top election official might reach out to would-be poll workers, breweries and wineries might not top your list. But that's a real partnership in Kentucky, and has been for some time.
Secretary of State Michael Adams jokes that he's aware of the optics.
"Yeah, that wasn't to get free beer and wine. I know how it looks, but we've actually had a great partnership with them for years," he explains.
It's an idea the Restaurant Association has also jumped on board with.
The program uses QR codes on products, tents and in restaurants to send people to the portal where they can sign up as a poll worker or registered to vote.
Adams acknowledges it's not a partnership that's produced tons of feedback, but he says the shortage of poll workers is so pressing that the office values any route it can take to get the message out.
"I'll be limited in how I described this. We've not seen thousands and thousands of people, but we have had several hundred and we're closing in on a thousand and that makes a big difference when you're trying to open thousands of voting locations in our state," he says.
Adam says the generation that reliably stepped up to work the polls is aging out, and younger generations aren't replenishing those ranks.
