LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Kentucky’s voter turnout for 2024 could be historic, or close to it, based on the long lines of the first day of early in-person voting that LEX 18 spotted on Thursday.
By 9 a.m. on Thursday morning the lines to vote at several of Lexington’s public libraries were long. But not unbearable, according to those who took the time to share their thoughts on the process.
“I waited maybe 20 to 30 minutes,” said Minh Truong after voting. “It ran smoothly, in and out real quick, it was wonderful."
Voters seemed enthusiastic to be waiting for their turn to cast their vote on Thursday morning, the first day of three days of early, in-person voting for everyone.
Kentucky Secretary of State, Michael Adams urged people to take advantage of this scenario given the number of people who’ve been voting since “excused” early voting began last week.
In a post on X, Adams wrote that the number of excused early voters was up more than 164% since 2022.
“I am a big proponent of early voting. I've always early voted because I know the lines are generally really long on Tuesdays,” Mr. Truong said.
The top of the ticket is, of course, galvanizing voters, but other races and ballot measures are helping fuel the interest as well.
“I live in District 12 (Lexington), so the Council race is important to me,” Catherine Perkins said after casting her votes.
“I would say Amendment 2 was most important to us,” Sherri Latham said after voting with her husband, Lee.
Amendment 2 is the School Choice measure that, if passed, would amend the state’s constitution, allowing public tax dollars, normally earmarked for public schools, to flow to private schools.
Governor Andy Beshear has been spreading the message for months about how damaging he believes this would be to a public school system that’s already underfunded.
No matter their reason, elected officials feel as if the large numbers are always good to see, when low voter turnout is always a concern.
“My vote counts. My vote counts. I tell everybody it doesn't matter who you are, please get out and vote,” Delisa Robinson said after voting with her mother on Thursday morning.
