Christian County’s 16 voting centers aren’t the only locations where signs have been posted with information for voters heading out Tuesday for Election Day.
More than a dozen other sites across the county, which previously served as polling places, also have signs. These tell voters they’ve arrived at a site where voting no longer occurs and direct them to one of the new voting centers where they can cast a ballot.
Election officials are hoping the message carries and they won’t have a repeat of the May primary, when some voters complained they arrived at their old precinct only to find an empty parking lot. Signs had been posted on old precinct doors in the primary, but they were much smaller than the signs made for this election.
“My gut feeling is that there’s going to be a lot of voters,” said County Clerk Mike Kem, whose office runs elections.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Any voter may use any voting center, regardless of where they reside. Every voter who is in line by 6 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
The voting center locations are:
- James E. Bruce Convention Center, 303 Conference Center Drive
- Christian County Courthouse, 511 S. Main St.
- Christian County Senior Citizens Center, 1402 W. Seventh St.
- Oak Grove Community Center, 1705 Thompsonville Lane
- Indian Hills Elementary School, 313 Blane Drive
- New Barren Springs Church, 5012 Dogwood-Kelly Road
- New Palestine Baptist Church, 9997 Dawson Springs Road
- Friendship House, 2310 Faulkner Drive
- Sinking Fork Baptist Church, 5800 Princeton Road
- Pembroke Baptist Church, 144 S. Main St.
- Crofton City Hall, 101 E. Mill St.
- South Christian Elementary School, 12340 Herndon-Oak Grove Road
- Boys and Girls Club of Hopkinsville-Christian County, 1600 Walnut St.
- Concord Baptist Church, 1945 Concord Church Road
- Cedar Grove Baptist Church, 1106 E. Second St.
- Hopkinsville Middle School, 434 Koffman Drive
Hoptown Chronicle created the interactive map below to help voters find the voting center that is most convenient for them.
There are 49,755 registered voters listed on the Christian County roll — although that number is likely artificially high because a number of people still listed have moved from the county. Kem has said he believes former Fort Campbell soldiers and their spouses account for many of those whose names are still listed.
For the first time in Kentucky, voters in this general election were given three days for early voting (without needing a special excuse).
Roughly 4,000 voters had cast a ballot by the end of early voting on Saturday, said Kem. That included about 500 mail-in ballots.
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.
