LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The city of Lexington has installed six ballot drop-off boxes around Fayette County.
Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins, Jr. told LEX 18 on Wednesday the county has received between 75,000 and 80,000 absentee ballot requests. Of those, approximately 50,000 have been mailed out.
“We’re just getting them out as fast as we can,” Blevins said.
Blevins explained the drop-off boxes are a secure method of submitting your absentee ballot directly to the county office.
The ballot boxes are locked, bolted to the ground, under 24/7 security surveillance, and ballots are picked up daily.
“I believe that you can get your ballot by mail and easily drop it in one of those boxes and feel assured that it’s going to get to us and get counted. I hope people will trust that part of the system and take advantage of it,” Blevins said. “That’s probably the safest way to deliver your ballot back to us. Or the mail. I trust the mail. If you do it in a timely fashion, you’ll be fine. Just don’t wait until the last minute.”
Blevins additionally is urging more Kentuckians to step up and vote by mail.
“Because of our limited in-person voting locations, we really can’t vote a lot of people in person. If we go 50% that way, there’s just going to be crazy long lines and frustrated people. So I need for Lexington to step up and vote by mail as much as possible,” he said. “I’m calling out a warning right now that we’re not on the pace that we need to be in terms of mail out ballots. We need to be requesting a lot more than we have so far.”
The deadline to register to vote in Kentucky is October 5.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is October 9.
Here is a list of locations where you can find ballot drop-off boxes around Lexington:
- Tates Creek Branch Library, 3628 Walden Dr.
- Northside Branch Library, 1733 Russell Cave Road
- Beaumont Branch Library, 3080 Fieldstone Way
- Lexington Senior Center, 195 Life Lane
- BCTC Leestown Campus, 164 Opportunity Way
- County Clerk Office (162 E. Main St.)
