FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Kentucky secretary of state is reminding voters that the final day to request a mail-in absentee ballot for the May 21 primary election is Tuesday, May 14.
“Kentuckians who cannot get to the polls on Election Day have the option of voting absentee before the election,” Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said in a statement.
Grimes notes that not every voters can qualify to use mail-in ballots.
To be qualified to vote by mail-in absentee ballot, a voter must be:
- Advanced in age, disabled, or ill
- Military personnel, their Dependents, or Overseas Citizens
- A student who temporarily resides outside the county
- Temporarily residing outside of Kentucky and who maintains eligibility to vote in Kentucky, such as a “snowbird”
- Incarcerated, but not yet convicted of a crime
- Prevented from voting in person at the polls on election day and from casting an in-person absentee ballot in the county clerk’s office on all days in-person absentee voting is conducted because of his or her employment location
- A participant in the Secretary of State’s Address Confidentiality Program
Voters may request an absentee ballot application from their county clerk in person or via telephone, fax, or email. Qualified military and overseas voters may also use the Commonwealth’s online portal at GoVoteKY.com to request and receive their blank absentee ballots.
Applications for mail-in absentee ballots must be received by the clerk’s office no later than May 14. The completed absentee ballot must be returned by mail and received by the county clerk by 6 p.m. local time on Election Day.
Individuals who do not qualify to vote by mail-in absentee ballot may still be eligible to vote early in person prior to May 21, Election Day. In-person absentee voting, which is conducted during the county clerk’s regular business hours, is currently open statewide and will conclude on May 20.
Persons with questions about absentee voting should contact their county clerk or call the State Board of Elections at 502-573-7100. Additional information about absentee voting is also available on the State Board’s website, elect.ky.gov.
