LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The 2024 general election, set for Tuesday, Nov. 5, is just one week away, and Kentucky leaders are encouraging people to get out and vote.

During a news conference at one of Jefferson County’s early voting locations, Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Ky., said he expects high voter turnout in this election and encouraged people to head to the polls early. 

Kentucky has three days of in-person no-excuse early voting, which begins Thursday, Oct. 31 and goes through Saturday, Nov. 2. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“If we have, as we expect, north of two million people voting, maybe two and a half million voting, and they procrastinate and they wait until the last day, that’s going to be a very long day for our voters and a very long day for our poll workers,” Adams said.

Seventy-nine percent of registered Kentucky voters cast their ballots on Election Day in 2023, Adams said. 

“We’ve put out some 130,000 absentee ballots; that’s a lot," he said. "We’ve got about half of them back, and that’s good. But half are still outstanding, so go ahead and get those back to us."

Election integrity and security is a topic on the minds of the secretary of state and Jefferson County officials. 

“We have no information that there will be any incidents of violence or otherwise," said Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Louisville. "We certainly hope that will not be the case on Election Day or after Election Day in this community, but we are prepared." 

“Fortunately, since I’ve been county attorney, I don’t recall that we’ve had to prosecute anybody in Jefferson County for violation law,” added Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell.

Adams added he expects nearly all the state’s votes will be counted by the end of the night on Nov. 5.