Voters must register by April 20

If you haven’t reg­is­tered to vote in the May 19 pri­ma­ry elec­tion, you only have a cou­ple of days left to do so.

Qualified local res­i­dents may reg­is­ter in per­son at the Clark County Clerk’s Office or online before 4 p.m. Monday, April 20. The office, locat­ed in the cour­t­house at 34 S. Main St., is open on week­days from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

The online reg­is­tra­tion por­tal is at https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ovrweb.

Voters may change their address, but not their par­ty; the dead­line to change par­ties was Dec. 31. Kentucky has closed pri­maries, mean­ing only those reg­is­tered as Democrats or Republicans by Dec. 31 can vote in their own party’s pri­ma­ry on May 19.

Any reg­is­tered vot­er liv­ing in the city lim­its of Winchester may vote in the non­par­ti­san pri­ma­ry for the city commission.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, vot­er reg­is­tra­tion across Kentucky surged in March ahead of the pri­ma­ry. Statewide, net reg­is­tra­tion increased by 4,042 vot­ers since February. In Clark County, reg­is­tra­tion in March was 28,927, includ­ing 11,697 Democrats, 13,743 Republicans, and 1,877 “oth­er.”

There is plen­ty of inter­est in the elec­tion because of the open U.S. Senate seat cre­at­ed by the retire­ment of for­mer Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and the vacan­cy for the 6^th District U.S. House seat result­ing from Congressman Andy Barr’s deci­sion to run for the Senate.

Twelve Republicans and sev­en Democrats are run­ning for the Senate. Five Republicans, includ­ing two from Clark County, Ralph Alvarado and Ryan Dotson, are on the bal­lot for the 6^th District House seat, along with sev­en Democrats.

There are two Republicans, Les Yates and Daniel Konstantopoulos, and two Democrats, Chelsea Kirk and Rory Houlihan, run­ning for the 73^rd District seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Also on the bal­lot are coun­ty offices: for coun­ty judge-exec­u­tive, prop­er­ty val­u­a­tion admin­is­tra­tor, and 2^nd, 3^rd, and 5^th District mag­is­trates in the Republican pri­ma­ry. Democratic coun­ty can­di­dates face no oppo­si­tion until the gen­er­al elec­tion on Nov. 3.

Also, because there were 11 can­di­dates for the four seats on the Winchester Board of Commissioners, a pri­ma­ry con­test will be held.

One of those on the bal­lot, Logan Hall, with­drew when he was appoint­ed direc­tor of the county’s emer­gency man­age­ment pro­gram. His name will be on the bal­lot but will not be count­ed because he is no longer a candidate.

Also list­ed on the bal­lot are three can­di­dates for dis­trict judge of the 25^th District, 1^st Division, but those won’t be count­ed because one can­di­date, Micah Johnson, dropped out of the non­par­ti­san race. The oth­er two, Darrian D. Botts and the incum­bent, Tyler S. Frazier, will be on the gen­er­al elec­tion bal­lot in November.

For those vot­ing by mail-in absen­tee bal­lot, the por­tal to request a bal­lot opened April 4 and will close May 5. The U.S. Postal Service rec­om­mends vot­ers mail their bal­lots no lat­er than May 12. Excused, in-per­son absen­tee vot­ing is May 6–8 and 11–13 at the cour­t­house. In-per­son, no-excuse absen­tee vot­ing (a.k.a. “ear­ly vot­ing”) is May 14–16 at the courthouse.

Polls are open on Primary Election Day, May 19, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.