Long lines at Lexington polling places on first day of early voting for 2024 election
Polling places in Fayette County and across Kentucky saw long lines Thursday on the first day of early voting for the Nov. 5 General Election.
Six Lexington libraries that offered early voting opened at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, but at the Eastside Branch, near Man o’ War Boulevard, the line wrapped around the building a half-hour before the library opened.
Wait time was about two hours, and voters had to find alternative parking at nearby businesses.
“There are only three stations to check IDs, and they have to check everyone’s individual ballots (before they vote),” said Todd Takei, who voted at Eastside. “There are like 20 places to fill in the votes, but they’re not all full because it’s taking so long to go through the line.”
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams has said he anticipates a potentially “massive” voter turnout this election year. More than 130,000 Kentuckians requested absentee ballots, and in-person excused absentee voting was up 164% over 2022 levels as of Wednesday afternoon, he said.
Adams took to social media Thursday morning to urge Kentuckians to vote early to avoid even bigger crowds on Election Day.
“Note: there may be lines for early voting, but they will be much longer on Tuesday,” he posted.
The presidential contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is dominating the national conversation, but in Kentucky, a proposed constitutional amendment about school funding has emerged as the most expensive and contentious statewide issue.
Ben Skeens said he arrived at Eastside at 8:45 a.m., and the line was already around the building. He said it moved quickly at first, but it eventually slowed down. He waited about an hour and 45 minutes to vote.
“I’m glad there’s that many people voting, but it did take a while,” he said. “But I made some great friends in line.”
Skeens was complimentary of the volunteers working the polls.
“The people working here have been so kind, and they seem very happy with the work they have to do,” Skeens said.
Skeens, a law student, said he voted for Harris in the presidential election for judicial reasons.
“The kind of judges the Biden administration has put in place, the kinds of rulings they are making, are much more in line with my beliefs,” Skeens said.
Tom Moss, another voter at Eastside and a retired public school teacher, voted against Amendment 2, which would allow Kentucky lawmakers to use public money to fund private schools.
Moss said he thinks misinformation about private and charter schools has been rampant.
“If you’re going to take money and give it to the private schools, it’s got to take away from the public schools or take away from something,” Moss said. “That money isn’t going to appear out of nowhere.”
Moss waited roughly 90 minutes in line at Eastside.
Lines were long at other libraries in Kentucky, too, including the Tates Creek Branch.
At Central Library in downtown Lexington, lines were shorter by around noon. Voters said they waited about 45 minutes to cast their ballots.
Avery Heath, a first-time voter, wasn’t sure what to expect with the voting process but said it took longer than expected.
“It was a super impressive turnout, and everyone was super helpful,” Heath said.
Janice Kregor waited in a line that snaked through the bookshelves on the second story of Central. Kregor grabbed a book while waiting — “If You Ask Me: Essential Advice from Eleanor Roosevelt” — and said she planned to take it home to read.
“I didn’t plan on getting a book, because I didn’t think there’d be this many people here,” Kregor said.
Kregor said the voting process was easy once she made it to the front of the line.
“It’s in a library, which is my favorite place in the world,” Kregor said. “The people were friendly, it was well organized, it was well-lit, there was a flag outside so I knew where to come. It was easy as pie.”
Kregor voted in favor of a new tax on Fayette County residents that would fund parks.
“I like parks, and I’ll give money to parks,” Kregor said.
In Madison County, lines were present but the wait time was only about 10 minutes.
In Kenton County, readers reported a 2 1/2-hour wait at Lakeside Presbyterian Church on Thursday morning. The line at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center was reported to be much shorter — about 15 minutes.
The line at the Jessamine County Courthouse in Nicholasville was about an hour and 40 minutes.
Early voting at the six Lexington Public Library locations runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Tessa Duvall, John Clay and Taylor Six of the Lexington Herald-Leader contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 10:56 AM.
