Kentucky Early Voting Opens as Jefferson County Debuts First Drive-Thru Voting

Kentucky voters can begin casting ballots in person today as the state’s three-day window of no-excuse early voting opens ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, and voters in Louisville have a new option: for the first time in Jefferson County history, they can vote without leaving their cars.

Early voting runs Thursday, Oct. 29, through Saturday, Oct. 31. Any registered voter may take part during those three days without giving a reason, according to the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office and WDRB News. Election Day polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

What is on the ballot

The statewide ballot is headlined by the race for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell. Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr faces Democrat Charles Booker, who is making his third run for the Senate, WKYT reported. Democrats have not won a Kentucky Senate seat since 1999.

In central Kentucky, Republican Ralph Alvarado and Democrat Zach Dembo are competing for the 6th Congressional District seat Barr is leaving. KET’s Kentucky Edition reported that the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and Fox News have both moved that race to toss-up after the Cook Political Report did the same last week.

Voters will also decide Amendment 1, which would change the state constitution so the governor could not grant pardons from 60 days before an election through Inauguration Day, WDRB reported.

How drive-thru voting works

Jefferson County Clerk David Yates’ office is running the drive-thru pilot in the South Wing of the Kentucky Exposition Center. It is open to all Jefferson County voters from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on each of the three early voting days and again on Election Day during regular polling hours, according to the clerk’s office.

Drivers enter through Gate 4 on Crittenden Drive and follow signs to South Wing entrance E19, where vehicles pull inside the building. WLKY reported that state law requires the voting itself to take place indoors. WDRB reported the site has 40 numbered stalls, and a traffic officer directs each driver to one.

Once a car is parked, election officers check each voter’s photo ID and address with electronic poll books and bring a mobile ballot-marking machine to the window, WHAS11 reported. Voters turn on their hazard lights when they are finished and are then guided to one of two lanes where ballots are fed into a scanner. A third lane is set aside for voters who need help.

More than one voter may cast a ballot from the same vehicle, but each must sit next to a window. Passengers in middle seats cannot vote from those seats, the clerk’s office said. Larger vehicles, buses and TARC 3 paratransit cannot use the drive-thru; those voters can park in Lot B and vote at a walk-in area in the same building.

The clerk’s office said the option is meant to offer convenience and help voters with accessibility needs, not to be a faster way to vote. WLKY reported the site will be staffed by over 60 election officers plus 10 workers from the clerk’s office, with Louisville Metro Police handling traffic and security.

“We want everybody to bring their patience. This is a new thing,” Ashley Tinius, the clerk’s office communications director, told WDRB.

Jefferson County also lists 24 other early voting locations on its website, open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. In Fayette County, early voting is offered from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Lexington Public Library locations, FOX 56 reported.

Editor’s note: This report was compiled by the Kacee Allen Network News Desk. Dates, hours, locations and drive-thru rules were checked against the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office announcement and its in-person voting page, and matched with reporting from WDRB, WLKY and WHAS11. Race details come from WKYT and KET, and Fayette County hours from FOX 56. The Network did not visit the voting site or interview officials for this story; quotes appear as the outlets listed below reported them. The wording is original.