More than 135,000 Kentuckians cast ballots on first day of early voting, upping numbers since 2022

LEXINGTON — Fred Vickers said he waited more than an hour to vote at the Tates Creek library in Lexington Thursday afternoon. 

“Once you get inside, there’s nothing to it,” Vickers added. He waited to cast his ballot because he felt like it was his “civic duty.” The line at the library stretched out the front door to the road. 

Fayette County, which is in the middle of Kentucky’s most competitive U.S. House race this year, had nearly 7,300 ballots cast during the first day of early voting, according to the State Board of Elections. 

Throughout the state, 135,901 voters participated in the first day of early voting. More than 66,000 of them were Democrats and nearly 61,000 of them were Republicans. That’s about a 65% percent increase compared to the first day of voting in 2022.

Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, said on X during the last midterm election in 2022, about 82,000 Kentuckians voted on the first day of early voting. Ahead of the 2024 general election, which was a presidential year, more than 656,000 Kentuckians voted early. The process is officially called “no-excuse in-person voting.” 

For this year, more than 13,000 voters used excused in-person voting as of Thursday and nearly 43,000 absentee ballots have been returned, or 66% of all absentee ballots issued. 

Early voting is popping nationwide. The University of Florida’s Election Lab said more than 46 million Americans had cast ballots ahead of Election Day this year, eclipsing the early voting turnout of the 2022 midterms. 

Adams told the Kentucky Lantern Friday morning that early voting was going well statewide. 

“I think this is the first day of voting since I’ve been in office where I haven’t had my phone going off all day. It’s been very smooth,” Adams said. He added that there have been “rinky-dink micro things” but no “macro issues.” 

Since introducing early voting during 2020, Kentucky has three days of early voting. Whether the state needs to expand that time frame is a question to come, Adams said. 

“If we do see a strong turnout of the early vote, then we have a question to answer, which is: Is it that we need more locations for early voting, or is it that we need more days for early voting, or is it both? Most counties don’t have all their polls open for early voting,” Adams said. 

One county that is trying something new this election cycle is Jefferson County, the state’s most populous county. Clerk David Yates urged the idea of a drive-through voting location this year as a pilot program, said Troy LeBlanc, the chief operating officer of the Clerk’s office. Throughout early voting and Election Day, voters can stay in their car to vote at the Kentucky Expo Center. 

Anderson County was the first in Kentucky to have such a location in 2020, LeBlanc added. Other county clerks have inquired about the program. LeBlanc predicted it will probably be discussed at a future county clerks meeting later in November. 

Jefferson had about 25,000 votes cast Thursday. The clerk’s office said about 1100 were cast at the expo center, which also has a walk-up option for voters. 

“Obviously, it was very overwhelming at first, but once we got into it and to the design and him pushing us as a team to do it, we found that it was actually very achievable,” LeBlanc said. 

Jefferson County’s drive-through location will also be open to all county voters on Election Day. Outside of the expo center, voters must vote in their local precinct, LeBlanc said. 

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Early voting in Kentucky lasts through Saturday. To find polling locations by county, visit the Kentucky State Board of Elections website.