A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Sec. of State Grimes projects big turnout in primary — but that’s 30 percent; get out to vote Tuesday


Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes on Thursday projected a turnout of 30 percent or less of the 3.3 million people registered to vote in Kentucky will turn out for next week’s Primary Election.
 
A turnout of 30 percent would represent the highest participation in a Kentucky Primary Election in nearly a decade. Approximately 32 percent of Kentuckians voted in the 2010 midterm Primary Election.

 

“Next Tuesday, I think you will see a Kentucky electorate that is beginning to get up, get out, and get loud with voters making their voices heard at the polls,” said Grimes.

“We have witnessed dismal levels of participation in the last few years – 20 percent in 2016, a presidential election, and only 12 percent in the last Governor’s race in 2015. This year, I think we could see the number of Kentuckians going to the polls improving.”
 
Grimes tracks absentee ballot totals as an indicator of final turnout on Election Day. According to current statistics, Grimes projects turnout for the May 22 Primary Election will be about par with the midterm elections of 2014 and 2010 when 26.8 percent and 32.2 percent of Kentuckians voted, respectively.
 
As of Monday, nearly 25,000 voters had voted in person on machines in county clerks’ offices and approximately 12,000 mail-in absentee ballots were sent to voters who had requested them.
 
Grimes encourages voters to prepare to vote on May 22 by checking their polling places and viewing sample ballots at GoVoteKY.com, Kentucky’s one-stop portal for voters.
 
“We need a majority of Kentucky voters deciding our Commonwealth’s future, not a minority. I encourage every voter to cast their ballot in the Primary Election,” Grimes said.
 


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