Kentucky early voting concludes with record turnout

Long lines continued to be the case on Friday, the second day of no-excuse early voting in Kentucky.

Voters also had all day Saturday to cast ballots ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5. 

Voting locations statewide reported record turnout on Thursday, and waits of one or two hours in line were common in larger metro areas.

Statewide, 225,696 people cast no-excuse-in-person votes on Thursday. By contrast, Secretary of State Michael Adams' Office said that on the first day in 2020 just over 57,000 voted, and in 2022 almost 82,000 cast ballots.

Reports indicated the wait was about 60 to 90 minutes to vote at the McCracken County Courthouse. McCracken County Clerk Jamie Huskey told West Kentucky Star that 2,585 voters cast ballots on the first day in Paducah. There were 1,057 who voted at the courthouse, while another 1,528 voted at the new location at WKCTC on Thursday.

Huskey reminded voters that those two voting centers will also be open for everyone on Election Day Tuesday. Voters can take advantage of those centers or vote in their appointed precinct.

The Marshall County Clerk's Office reported that 1,901 people cast ballots at the Joe Creason Center in Benton on Thursday.

In Livingston County, officials told West Kentucky Star that 579 people voted early at the Livingston County Clerk's Office. Calloway County saw 2,341 early voters. Graves County had 1,572 cast no-excuse early votes.