Early voting turnout in KY is high, officials say. How many will vote on Election Day?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Michael Adams said 184,992 Kentuckians cast ballots so far, including absentees.
- The 184,992 total accounts for just over 5% of registered voters statewide.
- A total of 91,223 registered Republicans voted during the early window.
Early voter turnout in Kentucky Saturday, just days before Election Day, was significantly higher than the Saturday turnout for the 2022 primary, according to Secretary of State Michael Adams.
Adams said on X Monday that 46,955 people voted Saturday, a 74% increase compared to 2022. Between absentee voting and in-person early voting, 184,992 people had voted as of Monday morning. That’s just over 5% of registered voters in Kentucky.
“As a quarter of the vote now typically is cast before the last voting day, I hold to my expectation of just north of 20% turnout in the May 2026 primary,” Adams said on X.
Secretary of State Michael Adams is still expecting his voter turnout prediction for the 2026 primary election to come true after many Kentucky residents took advantage of the early voting period.
The early voting window opened Thursday, May 14, and stayed open through Saturday. Friday saw the most early voter traffic at 57,380 voters, followed by Thursday with 51,088 early voters and Saturday with 46,955 early voters, according to Adams.
Only 28,327 Kentuckians voted on the first day of no-excuse early voting during the 2022 primary election, meaning Thursday’s turnout was an 80% increase, according to Adams.
A majority of the 155,423 people who used no excuse early voting were registered Republicans, according to Adams. A total of 91,223 Republicans used early voting along with 62,443 Democrats and 1,757 independents.
The 2022 primary election saw 726,599 voters — 20.4% of registered voters — show up to the polls, according to data from the Secretary of State’s office. Early voting statistics weren’t immediately available.
