Early voting is surging in Kentucky, up more than 30% since the last midterm

Kentucky voters are showing up to cast their ballots, resulting in a nearly 30% increase since 2023.

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If you’ve been wondering whether Kentuckians are fired up for this election, the early voting numbers have an answer.

Through 6 p.m. Friday, 327,765 Kentuckians had cast ballots between early and absentee voting, according to Secretary of State Michael Adams. At this point in 2022, that number was 247,245. In 2023, it was 226,556. That’s roughly 80,000 more voters than in 2022, a jump of about 33%.

The numbers are up in the state’s biggest counties, too:

• Jefferson County: 56,802 voters, or 9.6% of registration
• Fayette County: 21,292 voters, or 9.4% of registration
• Kenton County: 13,830 voters, or 9.2% of registration
• Boone County: 8,141 voters, or 7.7% of registration

Friday’s early voters split almost evenly between the two major parties: 61,278 registered Democrats and 61,032 registered Republicans. Another 9,031 were registered as Independents.

The surge isn’t just a Kentucky story. An Associated Press analysis of voting data, done five days before Election Day, found early voting is significantly outpacing the last midterm, with millions more Americans voting in advance. According to the AP, the increases are especially sharp in states with competitive Senate races.

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Texas leads the way. The AP reports more than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase. The AP also found advance voting up more than 30% from four years ago in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas, and up 83% in South Carolina.

Today is your last chance to vote early. Early voting ran Thursday through Saturday, October 29–31, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you’re in Jefferson County, you can find open polling locations today on the Jefferson County Clerk’s website. If you miss today, Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.

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