Kentuckians Head to the Polls With 438,602 Ballots Already Banked

Polls opened across Kentucky at 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and they close at 6 p.m. local time. Because the state straddles two time zones, Central-time cities such as Paducah and Bowling Green close an hour after Louisville and Lexington. Anyone standing in line at closing time is still allowed to vote, according to the State Board of Elections.

The head start

Voters walked in with a large share of ballots already cast. State figures show 438,602 Kentuckians voted before Election Day through mail ballots, excused in-person voting and the three-day no-excuse window that ran Oct. 29 to 31. Of those, 377,269 came during the three no-excuse days.

Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, put the 2022 pre-Election Day total at 337,975 and the 2023 governor’s race figure at 313,009. That makes this year’s early count roughly 100,000 higher than the last midterm, though far below the 2024 presidential-year record of 792,476, the Kentucky Lantern reported.

Registered Democrats cast 180,541 of the no-excuse early ballots and Republicans cast 170,304. With about 3.39 million Kentuckians on the rolls, the early vote equals roughly 13% of registered voters. By party, about 15% of Democrats, 12% of Republicans and 16% of voters outside the two major parties have already voted, according to state data cited by WEKU and the Courier Journal.

Adams told the Courier Journal that the independent number surprised him most. “I had never in my lifetime seen an election where people who are not Democrats or Republicans have higher turnout than Democrats or Republicans,” he said. “That makes this really volatile and hard to predict some outcomes because we don’t know how many people are voting.”

Morning reports

In Lexington, the Fayette County Clerk’s office said turnout was strong in the first hours and reported 19,187 Election Day votes as of 8:28 a.m., the Herald-Leader reported. Some poll workers called in sick, but the clerk’s office said every location was running. After calls about electioneering, it reminded campaigns that signs must stay at least 100 feet from polling places.

Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office logged 129 complaints before Election Day, with Jefferson County producing the most at 18. Its hotline for suspected violations is 800-328-8683. Jefferson County voters can also use the Kentucky Exposition Center as a polling place.

What is on the ballot

The marquee contests are the open U.S. Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell and the closely watched 6th Congressional District. Lexington is choosing a mayor, Jefferson County is electing a new sheriff.

Analysis: why the early numbers matter tonight

This section is context from the Kacee Allen Network News Desk, based on the figures above.

A narrow Democratic edge in early ballots does not tell anyone who will win. Adams’ own percentages imply Republicans hold more registered voters statewide, and he has noted that neighboring states with longer early-voting histories tend to see about half their votes cast on Election Day itself. The more useful signal is the 16% turnout among independents. Those voters are not counted in either party’s get-out-the-vote math, and their choices could swing a close race such as the 6th District.

What to watch after 6 p.m.: whether Fayette’s fast morning pace holds, whether the early Democratic lead in Jefferson and Fayette is offset by Election Day turnout in rural counties, and how quickly the state’s results page updates.

Editor’s note: This report was written by the Kacee Allen Network News Desk. Early-vote totals and party figures were checked against the Kentucky Lantern, WEKU and the Courier Journal, which reported matching numbers from the State Board of Elections and Secretary of State Michael Adams. Morning turnout, complaint counts and poll-site details come from the Lexington Herald-Leader’s live coverage and the Courier Journal’s live updates. Adams’ quotes are from the Courier Journal. No original interviews were conducted; the analysis section is the Network’s own context.