Kentucky’s absentee ballot requests signal potentially ‘massive’ voter turnout
Kentucky’s top election official isn’t making a prediction about 2024 election turnout just yet, but at least one key sign indicates it could be high.
Secretary of State Michael Adams said Wednesday that 130,695 Kentucky voters requested an absentee ballot by the Oct. 22 deadline.
“As absentee ballots generally make up 2%-4% of all ballots cast, this portends a massive overall turnout,” Adams wrote on social media.
He added a plea: “For the love of God, vote early.”
The Secretary of State’s office is “adjusting our turnout expectation upward based on new information,” spokesperson Michon Lindstrom told the Herald-Leader.
Across the country, some states are seeing a strong interest in early and absentee voting as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in a tight race for the presidency.
More than 2 million Georgians have already voted. Texans voted in record numbers Monday, the first day of early voting in the Lone Star State. And in the battleground state of North Carolina, more than 1 million voters have cast ballots, which is more than in 2020.
Trump is all but certain to win Kentucky’s eight electoral votes. But several state and local issues are on ballots across the commonwealth, including medical marijuana referendums, most General Assembly seats and two proposed constitutional amendments.
Lindstrom said the best way to avoid potential long lines on Election Day is by voting early.
Excused, in-person absentee voting is underway. Remaining dates are Oct. 24, 25, 28, 29 and 30.
No-excuse absentee voting, also commonly called early voting, is Oct. 31, Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.
In the 2022 midterms, 82,665 Kentucky voters requested an absentee ballot.
In the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, even more voters took advantage of absentee voting. That year — with Donald Trump and Joe Biden atop their party’s respective tickets — more than 60% of eligible voters cast ballots. That’s more than 2.1 million Kentuckians who voted.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
