VOTER REGISTRATION

Registration Deadline: 

Last day to register for General Election: October 11, 2022

Party Affiliation: Kentucky conducts political party primaries before each General Election. In Primary Elections, voters may only vote for candidates of their same political affiliation and non-partisan candidates. You can change your political party at GoVoteKY.com, or by submitting an updated registration application to your county clerk. 

VOTER REGISTRATION QUALIFICATIONS

Age: Must be at least 18 years old by the date of the next general election. State law allows for pre-registration at 17 years of age, but you must be 18 years of age on or before the next General Election Day to vote. If you are 17 and will be 18 on the next General Election, you may vote in the Primary Election.

Citizenship: Must be a United States citizen

Residency: Resident of Kentucky at least 28 days before the election

Mental Competency: Not judged mentally incompetent in a court of law and have voting rights removed

Felony Convictions: Not be a convicted felon or, if convicted of a felony offense, you must have had your civil rights restored by executive pardon

OBTAINING A VOTER REGISTRATION FORM

Online: Kentucky voter registration application. You may use a current Kentucky Driver’s License to help you complete an application online.

In person: You can register at one of the following locations:

   - Local county clerk's office

   -Voter Registration Drives. For more information on hosting a voter registration drive,

 click here.

By mail/ in writing: Download a voter registration application and mail it to the State Board of Elections or your County Clerk

VERIFYING YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION STATUS

Online: Verify your registration online

Phone: Contact your county clerk

ABSENTEE BALLOT QUALIFICATIONS

Who can vote absentee:

To be qualified to vote by mail-in absentee ballot, you must be:

1. Person who due to age, disability or illness will be unable to go to the polls on election day,

   (or concern about contracting or spreading COVID-19)*.

2. Students who temporarily reside outside the county in which they are registered.

3. Voter who temporarily resides outside the state but who is still eligible to vote in the state.

4. Person who is incarcerated and has been charged with a crime but has yet to be convicted.

5. Person whose employment location requires them to be absent from the county all hours and all days absentee voting by machine is conducted.

6. Military personnel confined to a military base on election day.

7. Person who is a participant in the Office of the Secretary of State's address confidentiality program.

In person absentee voting is available if you are:

- Out of county on election day

- Military, their dependents, or an overseas citizen. For more information visit the Military and Overseas Voters.

- Military personnel confined to base and learn of your confinement within 7 days or less of an election.

- A student or resident who temporarily resides outside the county

- A voter or the spouse of a voter who has surgery scheduled that will require hospitalization on Election Day

- A pregnant woman in your third trimester

- Precinct election officer appointed to serve in a precinct other than your own

- Alternate precinct election officer

- County Board of Elections members

- County Board of Elections staff

- Deputy county clerk

- State Board of Elections’ Staff

OBTAINING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT

Absentee ballots can only be obtained by contacting the County Clerk’s office.

Military and overseas voting: Information for military and overseas voters.  

Current registered voters may request an absentee ballot by completing a Kentucky’s Federal Post Card Application The FPCA must be returned to their County Clerk’s office no later than seven (7) days prior to an election.

SUBMITTING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT

Location and time: The absentee ballot must be received in the county clerk's office by 6pm local time on Election Day for the ballot to be counted. 

Other absentee ballot submission information: You can either return the completed application by mail or you can hand-deliver it to the County Clerk’s office. Your spouse, parents, or children, or a third party cannot hand deliver your completed application to the county clerk.

VOTING ON ELECTION DAY

All voters must produce identification, ID must include a picture of the voter, or be known via personal acquaintance by an election official (official will have to sign an affirmation once identification is confirmed). Acceptable types of ID are personal acquaintance of precinct officer, driver’s license, Social Security card, county issued identification card approved in writing by the State Board of Elections, U.S. government-issued identification card, Kentucky state government-issued identification card with picture, credit card, or another form of ID containing both picture and signature. For more information, click here. 

 Polls are open from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM local time. If you are in line at 6:00 PM, you will be allowed to vote.

If you are working on Election Day, you may be entitled to a maximum of four consecutive hours off from work in order to vote or cast an absentee ballot if you make a request for time off with your employer. Your employer may specify the hours you may take leave to cast a ballot. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Verifying Registration: Kentucky voter registration verification

Deciding how to vote: https://votesmart.org/

Polling Place: Kentucky polling places

How to Vote: Kentucky sample ballots by county.

Problems with voting: Report violations to one of the following sources:

- Precinct Election Officers

- County Clerk/Board of Elections

- State Board of Elections (502) 573-7100

- Attorney General's Election Fraud Hotline (800) 328-8683

Verifying provisional ballot status: Kentucky provisional ballot voter information center

Verifying absentee ballot status: Please contact your county clerk to verify your absentee ballot status.