Secretary of State
Kentuckians to Participate in Historic Elections

Voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, May 16th to vote in the Kentucky primary election with more races on the ballot than at any other time in Kentucky’s history.  In addition to a large ballot, voters will also see new accessible voting machines in every polling location in the Commonwealth in addition or in replacement of machines that they had used in previous elections.

Secretary of State Trey Grayson, the chief elections officer of the Commonwealth, is encouraging all registered voters to cast their ballots on Primary Election Day.  “Voting is an important right and responsibility,” Grayson stated.  “It is my hope that we will see an impressive turnout on the 16th and that voters with disabilities will utilize these great new resources at the polls.”

The new accessible voting machines are due to mandates set forth by Congress in the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA).  Federal and state officials provided funds for the new machines which will allow voters with disabilities to vote unassisted for the first time.

Voters will have the opportunity to select candidates to appear on the November ballot for a number of offices including:

• U.S. Representatives
• State Senators in even-numbered districts
• State Representatives
• Justice of the Supreme Court (1, 2, 4, 5 unexpired term, 6)
• Judge of the Court of Appeals
• Circuit Judge
• District Judge
• Commonwealth Attorney (if the jurisdiction is multi-county)
• Local officials including county officers and some city offices as well.

Voters who changed their party registration after December 31, 2003 will be ineligible to vote in the upcoming partisan primary election.  Those citizens will be eligible to vote in the November general election and were notified as such in a recent letter from the State Board of Elections.

The Office of the Secretary of State and the Kentucky State Board of Elections offer a number of online resources to aid citizens for the upcoming election.  Citizens can take the time to review a sample ballot on the Office of the Secretary of State website at www.sos.ky.gov/elections/ballots.  If a citizen is not sure if he or she is registered to vote, unaware of their political affiliation, or does not know where to vote on election day, he or she can visit the Voter Information Center at www.sos.ky.gov/vic.  The service also provides driving directions to the polls.

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