LEXINGTON, Ky. — Election Day is Tuesday, May 21 for the 2024 primary races, but many Kentuckians have already voted. The state’s three-day no-excuse, early voting period was this past week and continues to see popularity from both parties.

What You Need To Know

  • Early voting increased in the May 2024 primary from May 2023 by 3.3% 

  •  75, 204 Kentuckians cast an early ballot during the three-day, in-person, no-excuse voting period

  • Kentucky has had early voting since 2020 
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Early voting continues to be well-used in the Commonwealth, with 75,204 Kentuckians casting an early ballot during the three-day period. That is a 3.3% increase from May 2023 primaries when 72,754 voted early.

Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Kentucky, said once again Republicans were the majority of early voters but says there’s nothing political about choosing your preferred voting method. He said neither party benefits from the early voting method, it’s simply a means to make elections more accessible.

“My wife and daughter voted on Saturday, they loved it, my daughter is out of school and my wife was off work and they got to go cast their ballots. So I know it’s good for working people, people with active schedules and we should include everybody when we have an election,” Adams said.

Adams said it’s too soon to project total voter turnout, but say’s numbers are trending in the right direction.

“We had more requests for absentee ballots this year than a year ago and we had more in person early voters this time than a year ago so if that holds true for Tuesday then we’ll top last year’s primary results in terms of turnout,” Adams said.

Fayette County Clerk Susan Lamb said the county increased its early voting centers from one last primary to six this year.

“We had an exponential increase in the turnout which I was very pleased with, so much that I know that it’s worth it,” Lamb said.

Adams projected around a 10-15% last week on InFocus. Lamb, however, hopes to see it higher. Besides precinct polling places, every library in the county will be open as a voting center for any county voter.

“Anybody can go to anyone of those vote centers or libraries and cast their vote,” Lamb said.

Regardless of where you vote in your specific county, Lamb and Adams remind Kentuckians to have an ID ready.

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