Elections
Register To Vote or Update Registration
The registration books close 28 days before each primary and election. You must be registered in the county where you live prior to that time in order to vote.
To register to vote:
- You must be a U.S. citizen and a Kentucky resident.
- You must be registered in the county where you live 28 days before the election.
- You must be at least 18 years of age on or before the date of the next general election.
- You must not be a convicted felon, or if you have been convicted of a felony, your civil rights must have been restored by executive pardon (individuals with prior felony convictions may check their registration eligibility status at https://civilrightsrestoration.ky.gov/).
- You must not have been judged mentally incompetent in a court of law.
- You must not claim the right to vote anywhere outside of Kentucky.
You may register to vote or update your registration information in the following ways:
In person at any of these agencies:
- The County Clerk's office
- The Driver's License office
- K-TAP, Food Stamp, Medicaid, WIC, and state funded offices serving those with disabilities, if you are a client of these offices
- Armed Forces Recruitment offices
By mail
- Using the Kentucky mail-in voter registration form
- Using the Federal Post Card Application (only if you are a member of the military, a military spouse or dependent, or a citizen residing overseas)
On Line
Party Designation for May Primary
The primary held in May is the process used in Kentucky to nominate candidates for the general election in November. Kentucky has closed partisan primaries meaning a voter must be a registered member of either the Democratic party or the Republican party in order to vote in their party's primary. Voters who choose to register with a political group or organization, or as an Independent cannot vote in the Democratic or Republican partisan primaries, but may vote in all nonpartisan primaries. These include urban county mayor, urban county council, school board, soil and water conservation, and all judicial offices.
*Please Note Kentucky Has a Party Change Deadline* You may change your political party affiliation anytime between the May Primary and December 31st to be eligible to vote in your new party's next primary. If you change your party affiliation anytime between January 1st and the date the registration books close for the primary, you will only be eligibe to vote in the nonpartisan primaries.