Monday was the deadline to request a mail-in absentee ballot for Kentucky’s primary election on June 23.
Voters may also cast a ballot early at the courthouse by scheduling an appointment with the Christian County Clerk’s Office. To schedule an appointment, voters must call the clerk’s office at 270-887-4107 or send an email to christiancountyelections@gmail.com. Those sending an email should provide their phone number for a call back.
On the day of primary, June 23, all voting will be conducted at the James E. Bruce Convention Center. The county’s only precinct will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voters may experience longer waits because of coronavirus safety measures, said Deputy County Clerk Melinda Humphries, who oversees elections.
In the past, voters could apply for an absentee ballot for limited reasons, such as a scheduled medical appointment our out-of-town work. However, under the new procedures established because of the virus, all voters are eligible to vote by absentee mail-in ballots, said Humprhies. State and local election officials are encouraging voters to use the mail-in ballots.
After a voter receives and completes an absentee ballot, it can be returned in the mail and dropped at locations established in each county. If it is mailed, it must be postmarked no later than June 23.
The Christian County Clerk’s Office has set two locations where voters can personally drop off ballots — at the courthouse on South Main Street or at the drive-thru lane at the new Christian County Sheriff’s Department on West Seventh Street.
On the primary election day, there will be only one voting precinct, at the James E. Bruce Convention Center, for all voters in the county who choose to vote that day in person.
As of Saturday, June 13, the clerk’s office reported on Facebook the following progress on absentee ballots:
“We have about 6,000 total requests for absentee ballots. We have mailed out right at 4,000. We are currently working on 2,000 to be mailed out. (A) little over 1,000 of that to be mailed out Monday, June 15. We have received 1275 returned ballots.”
This story has been updated.
(Jennifer P. Brown is the editor and founder of Hoptown Chronicle. Reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org.)
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.
