Ways To Vote In The June 23 Primary

In-Person Voting Limited Due To COVID-19 Concerns

Robert Moore

Herald Staff

rmoore@harrodsburgherald.com

Kentuckians can request an absentee ballot for the upcoming election at one of two online portals: govoteky.com and elect.ky.gov.

Mercer County voters can also request an absentee ballot by calling the Mercer County Clerk’s Office at 734-6310.

The primary election will be held Tuesday, June 23, and the state is trying to protect both the public and pollworkers from COVID-19. Gov. Andy Beshear has said pollworkers tend to be older and are more at risk of serious complications from the infection.

There will be in-person voting for the primary, but it will be limited.

Mercer County Clerk Chris Horn said voting will happen June 23 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Lions Park Building (450 East Factory Street).

In addition to in-person voting, there are three other ways to cast a ballot.

• Vote early at the county clerk’s office starting Monday, June 8.
• Absentee ballot by mail.
• Absentee ballot by getting your ballot online or from the clerk’s office, filling it out and returning it to the clerk’s office.

The changes to the voting regulations only apply to the June 23 primary election.

Kentuckians can register to vote at elect.ky.gov.

At govoteky.com, voters can check their voter information and make sure it is current. Voters can check this by punching in their name, date of birth and social security number, check their voter registration and check that all the information is correct.

If the information is incorrect, you will be able to fix the misinformation.

By law, the secretary of state’s office is required to have an application filed to receive an absentee ballot by mail.

The state will pay postage to mail the ballot.

Absentee in-person voting will be conducted by appointment only at the Mercer County Clerk’s Office (207 West Lexington Street). In-person absentee voting will take place June 8-22.

Appointments to vote can be made starting Monday, June 1, by calling 734-6310.

While some have criticized voting by mail, it is not new. U.S. military personnel have been able to vote via mail since the Revolution. So far, 100,000 Kentuckians have requested absentee ballots online, according the Secretary of State’s office.

Chris Horn, the Mercer County Clerk, said his office will make every effort to protect the integrity of the upcoming election.

“As your clerk, I am here to conduct this new election process with my staff and Election Board members,” Horn said in a Facebook post. “We will ensure the security, integrity, and transparency that has existed with each and every prior election.