LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In less than a week, Kentucky voters head to the polls for the state's primary election.
Ahead of the election, officials encourage voters to take advantage of early voting, which starts Thursday. In-person, no excuse early voting lasts three days.
Secretary of State Michael Adams said its a good way to make sure you don't have to wait in a line on election day.
"Studies show that in states that enact early voting, over time, voting begins to be displaced over the days and smooths out, but it takes a few cycles," he said.
Adams said the primary is expected to have the lowest turnout of the four year cycle.
He told WHAS11 News last Wednesday turnout could drop below 15%, which would be significantly lower than the 19% turnout he said the state saw in 2019.
Adams said the elections on the ballot could contribute to lower turnout, since there are fewer Democratic races and Governor Andy Beshear is running for reelection.
However, he said he isn't expecting particularly high Republican turnout for the governor's race either.
“There’s no one big issue that people disagree on that motivates people to go on one side or the other," he said. "The candidates for governor tend to be on the same script."
In Jefferson County, excused early voting is already underway. Elections officials said they're prepared for no-excuse early voting to begin Thursday.
Katie Belt, spokesperson for the Jefferson County Clerk's office, said the county added three new early voting locations this year, for a total of ten.
"The law states it's no less than 8 hours for voting but we'll have ten hours each day at all ten locations," she added.
The ten locations will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 11-13.
So far, Belt said about 200 people in the county have voted early with an excuse. Another 2400 requested mail-in ballots.
She reminded voters that since this is a primary, they can only vote within their registered party, unless voting on a non-partisan race.
"Other parties like independent they unfortunately will not be able to cast a ballot because with Kentucky laws primaries are open only to Democrats and Republicans," Belt said.
Getting ahead of election security rumors, Adams said voters should know even early votes are not tallied ahead of time.
"We don't see who has how many votes, I don't know how many vote I have or the governor has or anyone else," he said.
You can find WHAS11's full election guide, including how to vote early and on election day next Tuesday, here.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.