Voting & Elections Toolkits 2022

Deadline

• April 20, 2020  is the registration deadline for the May 19th, 2020 election.
• October 5, 2020 - 4:00pm local time is the registration deadline for the November 3, 2020 General Election.
• Election Calendar

Online registration

Note: requires entering Social Security # and date of birth.

Online registration (in English) is directly at: https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ovrweb/default

Mail-in registration

The voter registration card should be routed to the County Clerk in the county listed on the voter registration card [County where you live], NOT to the State Board of Elections.

Printable forms (in English)

Refer to the box below for information about ID requirements.

Choosing a political party   

• You may choose a political party affiliation when you register, but it is not required. Note: if you did not select a party, and wish to vote in a partisan primary, you must update your registration by December 31 of the year prior to the primary election.                

Updating registration      

To update registration after a move, name change, or change of political party affiliation, use the Kentucky Voter Information Portal

If you did not select a political party, and wish to vote in a partisan primary, you must update your registration by December 31 of the year prior to the primary election.  

Cancelling registration

To cancel your voter registration, contact the County Clerk’s office where you are registered to vote.

ID Requirements for Voting

For the 2020 General Election:

Kentuckians who were unable to get a driver’s licenses or photo ID due to the pandemic because their clerk’s office was closed, or because they were afraid of exposing themselves to COVID-19, can sign a document explaining this concern and cast their ballot.

More information

Where to get an ID

Transportation Cabinet, Division of Driver Licensing

• Locations

Obtaining a Driver’s License

• New license
• Transferring from another state - same site as above
• Obtaining a non-driver photo ID - same site as above

Absentee voting

          General information on absentee voting in Kentucky

Opening/closing dates

• Absentee ballots -- received prior to Election Day if by mail; or in person at the County Clerk's office prior to Election Day.

Military voters and voters who reside outside the U.S.

• Link for the form for military and overseas voters

Who is eligible to use an absentee ballot?

For the 2020 General Election - new -- "Kentuckians concerned with contracting or spreading COVID-19 can request a ballot by mail."

NOTE: below is out of date for the 2020 General Election.

In order to apply for and receive an absentee ballot, you must meet one of the following requirements:

    for mail-in absentee ballot:

• Advanced in age, disabled, or ill
• Military personnel, their Dependents, or Overseas Citizens
• A student who temporarily resides outside the county
• A voter who temporarily resides 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 clerks office on all days in-person absentee voting is conducted because of his or her employment location

     for in-person absentee ballot :  [one of these requirements]

• Out of the county on election day
• Advanced in age, disabled, or ill
• Military, their Dependents, or an Overseas Citizen
• Military personnel confined to base and learn of your confinement within seven days or less of an election
• Student or resident who temporarily resides outside of the county
• Voter or the spouse of a voter who has surgery scheduled that will require hospitalization on Election Day
• Pregnant woman in third trimester
• Precinct election officer appointed to serve in precinct other than his own
• Staff / officerof : Alternate precinct election officer; County Board of Elections’ members ; County Board of Elections’ staff ; Deputy county clerk ; State Board of Elections’ staff

Polling places and hours

• Use the Voter Information Center to find your polling place
  • Requires entering date of birth
• For the General Election, November 3, 2020, polls in Kentucky are open from 6:00am to 6:00pm local time. If you are in line by 6:00pm local time, you will be allowed to vote.
• Time off 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."

Rides to the polls

Many organizations offer free rides to polling places. Check your local newspaper or broadcast news station for these organizations.

Help for voters with disabilities

• Polling places are accessible
• A voter may receive assistance in voting if the voter is blind, has a physical disability, or has an inability to read English. (The person assisting you can be a someone you choose or the two precinct election judges, except that the voter’s employer, an agent of that employer, or an officer or agent of the voter’s union shall not assist a voter)

Ballots

Where to get more info on candidates - League of Women Voters; local newspapers (daily and weekly)

Sample ballots

Who are the candidates, and what else is on the ballot?

   As of Sept. 7, only one county's sample ballot is online.

Important Dates

• Voter Registration:  October 5, 2020 - 4:00pm local time
• Absentee Ballot request (online) : October 9, 2020, 11:59pm
• Absentee Ballot request (mail request or in-person request) : October 27, 2020
• General Election: November 3, 2020
• Absentee / mail-in ballots : postmarked by November 3, 2020 - and - received by November 6, 2020
• Early voting: is now allowed, from October 13, including Saturdays.

Who conducts elections?

• The Kentucky Secretary of State  oversees statewide elections.

Voter Bill of Rights

Voter Rights - State Board of Elections

Where to go with complaints about candidates or how elections are conducted

• For campaign finance, contact the Registry of Election Finance
• For election law violations, contact the hotline for the Attorney General for Kentucky

Campaign finance

• Registry of Election Finance

How to contact your elected officials:

Find your elected officials:

• Members of Congress from Kentucky