Are you going to vote in this year’s election? Of course you are! So to help you get ready, we’ve put together this info, including how to get an absentee ballot, dates to keep in mind, and the various ways you can protect our democracy by voting.
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How to request your absentee ballot
If you plan on voting absentee, just go to GoVoteKY.org before October 9 and click the Absentee Ballot Request option at the top of the menu. You’ll be given some introductory information, then be walked through a process of determining your eligibility to vote absentee (more about this below), identifying who you are, checking to make sure which address to mail the ballot to, and finally submitting your request.
Note that the absentee ballots are being printed, and won’t be mailed until mid-September at the earliest. Also, see the section below about voting absentee AND the section about important dates.
How to become a poll worker
Kentucky needs poll workers! Many of our current poll workers are older, and do not need to be staffing a polling location due to the pandemic. And, we’ve had a shortage of poll workers long before the pandemic hit.
Forward Kentucky is pushing to get 100 of our readers to be first-time poll workers. To do that, go to GoVoteKY.org (are you seeing a pattern?) and click the KY Needs Poll Workers menu choice. You’ll fill out a form with your info, which will be passed along to your county clerk, who will contact you about training and serving.
How to register to vote, or check your registration
EVERYONE should check their voter registration as part of getting ready to vote. And, if you are not registered, there is still time! Just go to that same site, GoVoteKY.org, and you can either register to vote, or check your registration. Click that link and do it now, so you know you are good to go.
How to vote in this election
Early in-person voting
Beginning October 13, all counties will have a location set up for you to vote in person before election day. Check with your county clerk or local board of elections for the location. The early voting locations will be open during “normal business hours” on weekdays, and for four hours on the three Saturdays before Election Day. If you feel safe voting this way, it is the preferred method, so as to relieve pressure on the absentee ballot system AND to make it easier to maintain social distancing on Election Day.
Note that the State Board of Elections and/or the Secretary of State will post a list of early voting locations, dates, and hours on their web site(s). So, you may want to check those sites rather than contact your county clerk.
In person on Election Day
Just like always, you can go vote in person on election day. Note that some polling locations may not be open in your county, depending on what your local officials decide. But, each county is supposed to have a “Voting Super-Center” where anyone in the county can go vote, and the center will have ballots for every precinct.
Just like for early in-person voting, the State Board of Elections and/or the Secretary of State will post a list of voting locations on their web site(s).
By absentee ballot
As noted above, you can request an absentee ballot through the GoVoteKY portal. But are you eligible to vote absentee? In the past, only certain reasons could be cited to vote absentee ballot:
- Person who due to age, disability or illness will be unable to go to the polls on election day,
- Student who temporarily resides outside the county in which he is registered.
- Voter who temporarily resides outside the state but who is still eligible to vote in the state.
- Person who is incarcerated and has been charged with a crime but has yet to be convicted.
- Person whose employment location requires him to be absent from the county all hours and all days absentee voting by machine is conducted.
- Military personnel confined to a military base on election day.
For the primary, we basically had no-excuse absentee voting, with #1 above expanded to say, essentially, “I’m worried about catching COVID-19.” For the general election, the coronavirus reason has been tightened up some, with this added to #1:
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).*
*Shall be interpreted to mean “Of an age, or possessing of a health condition or vulnerability, or potentially in contact with a person of an age, or possessing of a health condition or vulnerability, that the voter believes subjects the voter or other person to unacceptable risk of harm from contracting or transmitting the novel coronavirus.” (K.R.S. 117.085(1)(a)(8))
SO, if you believe that voting in person is an “unacceptable risk,” you can request an absentee ballot.
Filling out and returning your absentee ballot
When you fill out your absentee ballot, be sure to READ and FOLLOW all the directions! There are multiple envelopes and multiple places to sign, and if you don’t follow the directions your ballot could be disqualified. All of this is to make sure that (a) YOU actually filled out the ballot, and (b) the secrecy of the ballot is maintained when it is counted.
You can mail your ballot back in, OR put it in the ballot drop box for your county. Counties are not required to have a drop box, but many will. Considering the current issues with the postal service, using the ballot drop box is probably the best way to go. But even if your county does not have a drop box, you can still drop off your ballot at your county clerk’s office during business hours.
Important dates!
Oct 5 @ 4 PM — Deadline to register to vote in this election
Oct 9 — Deadline to apply through the online portal for an absentee ballot
Oct 13 — Early in-person voting begins
Nov 2 — Early in-person voting ends
Nov 3 — Election Day
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