Voter Registration
Registration Deadlines:
Online registration deadline: Monday, October 7, 2024.
Register by mail deadline: Must be postmarked by Monday, October 7, 2024.
In person registration deadline: Monday, October 7, 2024
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 here, 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:
-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.
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:
Voter who is a member of the Armed Forces or a dependent of a member of the Armed Forces and will be out of the county on election day and during the days of no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
Voter who is a citizen residing overseas and will be out of the county on Election Day and during the days of no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
Voter, or spouse of voter, who has surgery scheduled that will require hospitalization on the day of an election and during the days of no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
Student who temporarily resides outside the county in which he is registered.
Voter who temporarily resides outside the state, but is still eligible to vote in this state and will be absent from the county of his or her residence on Election Day and during the days of no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
Kentucky resident who is a uniformed-service voter and is confined to a military base on Election Day and during the days of no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
Voter who is in her last trimester of pregnancy.
Voter who has not been declared mentally disabled by a court of competent jurisdiction and, due to age, disability, or illness, is not able to appear at the polls on election day and during the days of no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
Voter who is a student who temporarily resides outside the county of his or her residence and will be absent from the county of his or her residence on the day of an election and during the days of no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
Voter who is employed in an occupation that is scheduled to work during all days and all hours, including commute time, that the polls are open on election day and during the days of no-excuse in-person absentee voting.
Voter who is an election officer tasked with election administration for the current election cycle.
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.
Propose a new section of the Constitution of Kentucky to authorize the General Assembly to provide for a financial support for the education of students outside of the public school system.
Propose to amend Sections 145 and 155 of the Constitution of Kentucky to prohibit persons who are not citizens of the United States from being allowed to vote in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
