Election night brought intense national attention to the New York City mayoral race, with headlines, livestreams, and social media commentary dominating timelines across the country.
But the interest ran so deep that some Kentucky residents reportedly called state election officials to ask why polling locations were closed, only to learn there were no elections in Kentucky this year.
Kentucky’s Secretary of State Michael Adams took to social media to clarify what he clearly believed needed no clarification:
“We’re getting calls about polls being closed. They are closed because we do not have elections today. Kentucky votes next year. You cannot vote today in Kentucky for the mayor of New York City or the Governor of Virginia. Sorry.”
In a follow-up, he didn’t hold back:
“Have I mentioned my repeated call for civic education?”
The post quickly went viral and sparked its own conversation about how Americans understand elections, geography, and the structure of state and local government.
We’re getting calls about polls being closed. They are closed because we do not have elections today. Kentucky votes next year. You cannot vote today in Kentucky for the mayor of New York City or the Governor of Virginia. Sorry. https://t.co/O71e7asXaW
— Michael Adams, KY Secretary of State (@KYSecState) November 4, 2025
A few things happened at once. The New York City mayoral race was framed as a national bellwether rather than just a local contest, drawing widespread attention from across the country.
Social media amplified that reach, making the election feel like a collective event, the same way entertainment or sports moments trend in real time.
And in an era where the 24-hour news cycle routinely collapses local and national politics into one conversation, it became even easier to forget that only residents of a specific city or state can actually cast ballots in those races.
But the confusion also reflects something deeper:
Many Americans simply aren’t taught how U.S. elections work, when elections happen, or who votes for which offices.
Civic education varies widely from state to state, and while most high schools teach a version of U.S. Government, few courses go deeper into how our political systems actually function.
Students may learn how a bill becomes a law, but rarely are they taught how local election calendars work, the differences between municipal, state, and federal offices, how redistricting shapes who represents them, or why some states hold off-year elections.
So moments like this one, Kentuckians attempting to vote for New York’s mayor, become less funny and more revealing.
They show how nationalized U.S. politics has become, and how disconnected many people feel from local politics happening right where they live.
The stakes are real.
When voters don’t fully understand which elections affect their schools, taxes, policing, transit, jobs, or housing, why voting dates differ from state to state, or how political power is distributed across different levels of government, civic participation suffers.
In those gaps, misinformation spreads more easily, disengagement grows, and elections start to feel more like entertainment or spectator events rather than collective decision-making that directly shapes our communities.
The consequences are long-term.
Kentucky votes again in 2026, and its next gubernatorial election is in 2027. But the moment has become a national reminder that democracy only works when people understand how to participate in it.
It may be time for the country to reinvest in civic education, and to meet voters where they are, not where we assume they are.
