Christian County’s primary and general election ballots in 2026 will be packed with numerous races for local offices in city and county government. That much is certain.
What isn’t so clear is how many voters will bother to go to the polls and cast a ballot — and of those that do vote, how many will be well informed about their choices.
Voter apathy and Christian County’s history of low turnout in non-presidential election years were key topics for the forum, “The Vote — What You Need to Know,” Monday night at the Pioneers Complex.
One of the forum’s youngest audience members asked how her generation could learn about issues and candidates before they cast their first ballots in 2026. Lillian Burcham, a senior at University Heights Academy, asked the forum panelists for advice on staying informed.
“You have to pay attention,” said Nikki Chambers, immediate past president of the Hopkinsville-Christian County League of Women Voters. “Don’t just listen to somebody telling you, ‘That’s my friend.’ You need to know what that person stands for.”
Chambers said voters can learn about candidates by attending or watching the league candidate forums and meet-and-greet gatherings. Being informed takes work on the part of voters, she said.
Several community groups, led by Focus 21st Century Minority Leadership and Pennyrile Resources Conservation and Development Council, organized the forum. Several dozen people attended.
Along with Chambers, the panelists were Christian County Clerk Melinda Humphries and David Carroll, technical services coordinator for Community and Development Services. Humphries’ office oversees elections in Christian County. Carroll’s job includes helping determine new boundaries for city council wards and magisterial and school board districts after each decennial census.
Starting with voter registration
In many cases, voter education begins with simply getting local residents to register, said Humphries.
“The first thing you have to be is registered to vote,” said Humphries. “That’s it. We do still have people in our community that will go on election day to a location expecting to vote — and they are not registered. We’ve got to change that, right. We’ve got to get people registered to vote. It is so simple.”
Kentuckians can register online. And those already registered can use the same website to update their voter registration when a detail such as their address changes, said Humphries.
Humphries also handed out paper voter registration forms and said, “You can actually fill one out tonight, if you want, and I’ll take it to work with me tomorrow, and I’ll get you registered to vote.”
At least one attendee took Humphries up on the offer and handed her the paperwork when the forum wrapped up.
Early voting and more polling places
Changes in elections brought on by the pandemic now mean that Kentuckians do not need an approved excuse to vote early.
And voting centers have replaced old polling places. That means voters can pick any voting center in the county rather than the single polling place they previously had.
If a voter lives in Crofton but has a job in Hopkinsville, they can pick a polling place that is close to work and more convenient, said Humphries.
Will Hopkinsville switch to nonpartisan elections?
Mayor James R. Knight Jr., who was in the forum audience, responded to questions about the rarity of partisan elections in Kentucky cities. Hopkinsville is one in a handful in the state still using partisan elections to pick its mayor and council members.
“It is coming back around. People are talking about it. … It’s not going away,” said Knight. He stopped short of stating his own preference, though.
“We are looking at it, and it’s something council is going to have to bring back up,” he said.
Knight said there is also discussion of reducing the size of the council from 12 to six members.
At a recent city council meeting, retired educator Bonnie Lynch asked the council to vote for nonpartisan elections. She stressed that a growing number of registered independents are shut out of the primary elections where many council races are decided.
Knight told the forum that Lynch’s husband, Wendell Lynch vetoed a council vote in favor of nonpartisan elections, which was in July 2020 when Lynch was mayor. Lynch, a Democrat, then appointed a citizen committee to study the use and impact of nonpartisan elections. The panel presented its findings to the council a year later, but was not asked to give a formal recommendation. Since then, the council has switched from a mix of Democrats and Republicans to an all-Republican council but has not taken up the proposal for nonpartisan elections.
Getting voters to participate
“This room should be standing-room only,” Chambers said, while addressing a question about the declining number of voters who come out to personally engage with events such as the candidate forums the league organizes.
But the people at the forum are the ones already going to the polls, she said.
“We actually are trying to figure that out … we do struggle to get people out,” said Chambers. “People don’t want to show up and actively participate.”
Important dates to remember
According to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website, these are some important dates for 2026 primary election:
- Dec. 31 — Last day to change party affiliate and vote in that party’s primary
- Jan. 9 — Candidate filing deadline
- Jan. 15 — Public drawing for ballot positions
- March 16 — Last day for Republican and Democratic county executive committees to submit names for appointment of precinct officers to county boards of elections.
- March 20 — The last day for county boards of elections to appoint precinct officers
- April 4 — Online mail-in absentee request portal opens
- April 20 — Voter registration deadline
- May 5 — Online mail-in absentee request portal closes
- May 6, 7, 8, 11, 12 and 13 — Excused, in-person absentee
- May 12 — Last day to apply for a military-overseas ballot
- May 14, 15 and 16 — In-person no-excuse absentee voting
- May 19 — Primary election
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
