The Commonwealth’s head election official provided Kentucky with an update ahead of the state’s upcoming general election.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, who spoke at the Morehead-Rowan County Chamber of Commerce meeting earlier this month, said he and county clerks across the Commonwealth have worked together to ensure every county is ready when residents head to the polls.
“We spent the summer designing the voting plans for every county. We have a lot of counties that have all of their precincts open like back in the good old days, we have others that have modernized to vote centers that are bigger and have better parking and are more ADA accessible,” he said. “There’s no one right answer for every county, it just depends on the local topography.”
Adams said his office opened the Absentee Ballot Request and Tracking Portal to facilitate absentee voting in the state.
“A voter doesn’t have to call the county clerk anymore, they can just go on our website – govote.ky.gov – and you can apply for your ballot, but you can also see a sample ballot so you can see who’s on there,” he said. “You can also track your ballot. Folks want to know if their vote counted.”
While absentee voting will close this month on October 24, Adams said early voting will open on November 2 and last until November 4.
“No excuse needed, it’s open for everyone. Every registered voter can vote early versus Election Day. Elections are about choices,” he said. “Every voter can vote on Tuesday if he or she wants, but you don’t have to. You can pick an earlier day. The advantage of that is you’ll also have shorter lines if you do that. Saturday, I think especially, is a game changer for working people.”
Kentucky has 3.48 million registered voters, which Adams said is pretty good for a population of Kentucky’s size. However, he said the most interesting thing about the Commonwealth’s registered voters has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans.
“Year after year and month after month, Independents are registering at the hottest rate of anybody,” he said. “In July, Independents were 10% of the voter block, but were 22% of registrants.”
As for voter turnout, Adams said it’s still too early to say for sure.
“We had 14.5% turnout in our primary this year; it’s been as low as 10% or 12% in recent years. That suggests a low turnout, relatively speaking, for this November. We’re usually in the neighborhood of about 40%," said Adams.
Adams said the state will likely be in good shape when it comes to poll workers, both in urban and rural areas alike.
“Every county clerk is accepting alternates. They have offered a relatively robust offering of locations and they’ve found workers to fill those locations for the most part,” he said. “Eastern Kentucky is actually the best area of the state in terms of people volunteering. I think there’s more of a community mindset in this part of the state. People want to be part of their community and a volunteer.”
Republican Secretary of State Adams is facing a challenge from former Democratic State Representative Buddy Wheatley in next month's election. Wheatley said Kentucky is a restrictive voting state and has promised to open more polling places and precincts.
The state’s voting information guide can be found online. Election Day is set for Tuesday, November 7.