Polls are open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Saturday. There are 10 locations in Jefferson County, as opposed to more than 200 sites open on Tuesday. To see a full list of polling locations, click here.
Kentucky Secretary of state Michael Adams cast his ballot Thursday morning in St. Matthews for the state’s primary election. Several important offices are up for grabs, including the governorship.
No-excuse, in-person early voting is open from Thursday until Saturday, leading up to primary day Tuesday.
Adams is running to hold onto his seat as secretary of state in a heated race, facing off against Republicans Allen Maricle, a former state legislator from Bullitt County, and Stephen Knipper of Erlanger. Both are adamant that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump, while Adams has consistently rejected the unsubstantiated claims.
Adams warned that voter turnout is already looking incredibly low, with few absentee ballots requested via mail or in-person ahead of early voting. Though Adams said he’ll have a better sense after a couple days of early voting, he predicts a 10% to 20% turnout at the polls.
“I'd love to see us get to 20%. That's a stretch goal, unfortunately,” Adams said. “But that's what we're pushing for.”
Adams led the effort to codify three days of early in-person voting in Kentucky. The measure garnered bipartisan support and became law in 2021 as part of a larger election reform. According to Adams, early voting is a good way to skip long lines, and it helps officials spread the burden on poll workers over the course of several days rather than a mad dash on primary day.
First and foremost, Adams said, the goal of early voting is to increase voter convenience and accessibility. But if people don’t utilize it this year, Adams warned it might be taken away.
“I don't want to see it repealed. I don't want to see the Legislature take it away. I think they might do that if voters don't utilize it,” Adams said.
