LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The early morning sun rose over the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage on the first day of early voting.
Retired veteran Vickie Spearman cast her ballot a few minutes after Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams. When it comes to who we put in office, she said, "nobody should be sitting back, wondering, 'Oh I'm not voting today cause I don't care who's running in office.' It doesn't work like that. Everybody should come out and vote."
Louisville's NAACP branch planned a 'votercade' with the Transformative Justice Coalition meant to encourage young people to vote and bring them to the polls.
Two buses went through Louisville communities, like the Park duValle neighborhood, after Daryl D. Jones, the board chair for the coalition, gave a speech at the NAACP branch building.
"We are going out into the communities. John Lewis is going into the communities. The hoopbus is going into the communities, to encourage everybody to come on out and vote," Jones said. "That's what this is about. That's why we're here."
State law requires polls to open Thursday through Saturday. In Jefferson County, they're open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at ten different locations throughout the city. This is the first time Kentuckians can vote for governor before Election Day.
Erran Huber, an official with the Jefferson County Clerk's Office, passed out 'I Voted' wristbands and helped a few ballots slide into the machine.
"This is the chance that the people get to say 'yes or no.' This is the way that people get to determine what they want moving forward. And that excites me more than anything," Huber said.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Bowman Field polls saw a lunch rush with the line stretched out the door. Voter Melanie Ahr was patient and thanked election officials for the process. Although retired, she's grateful people have the opportunity to early vote now. When she was a nurse, she couldn't find the time to go on Election Day.
"If you have a load of patients, who's gonna cover those while you're gone? You can't do that. I never could vote when I worked my twelve hour shifts. That's why I think it's so important to have early voting," Ahr said.
Huber predicted a similar turnout to the 2019 election — 48%. He encourages people to take advantage of the new early voting opportunity.
"If the people want to keep it, they need to use it," he said.
With less than half of the county's voters expected to show, the only sure way to bring the number up is to come yourself.
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