Technically, some voting started in April with mail-in absentee balloting and last week early voting was held at the courthouse. Through early voting and absentee voting, there have already been 440 ballots completed for the primary election.
Now, traditional voting will be held at local polls from 6 a.m., until 6 p.m., tomorrow, which is Primary Election Day in Kentucky. Some of the poll locations have changed, which will we discuss further into this article.
The state’s primaries are closed, meaning voters from the two major parties can vote for only their own party’s candidates. Independents and third-party voters cannot vote in Kentucky primaries.
Three long-serving office holders are retiring this year – Sheriff Wayne Agent and PVA Ronnie Heady, each with 24 years; County Attorney Rebecca Johnson with 16 years; and Jailer Robbie Kirk, with eight years. Additionally, former County Clerk Carolyn Byford retired mid-term in late 2020 after more than two decades in that office.
“Turnout for primaries is typically low,” said County Clerk Daryl Tabor, “but with familiar names not on the ballot for the first time in more than two decades, our election team is expecting a busy four days of voting … at least from Republicans.”
That’s because Democrats in Crittenden County have little to vote for in this election, with only U.S. Senator on the ballot. Only three Democrats are running for the 20 partisan local offices that will be filled by voting this year, and each are unopposed in their primary, so they do not appear on the May ballot.
Republicans, though, will essentially pick the next county clerk, PVA, and jailer, all of whom will face no Democratic opposition in the November general election in November, though write-ins and third-party
candidates still have time to file. In what is expected to be a tight race that anchors turnout, there are five GOP candidates for sheriff, with the winner facing a Democratic challenger this fall.The GOP will also select nominees for U.S. Senate and state House District 12 to represent Crittenden County in Frankfort.
Voters in magisterial districts 2, 3, 5 and 6 will choose their Republican nominee, with only the District 6 winner facing a Democrat later this year. Incumbents Dave Belt, District 1 Republican, and Chad Thomas, District 4 Democrat, have no challengers from within their own party or the opposition party in the fall. Only the District 2 constable race will appear on the primary ballot for Republicans (see related article this issue).
Judge-Executive Perry Newcom and Coroner Brad Gilbert, both Republicans, also face no opposition to retain their seats. Republican Bart Frazer faces no one in his bid for County Attorney. No one has filed for Surveyor.
Tabor expects 10- to 15-percent turnout for Democrats, and maybe as high as 60 percent for Republicans in what will be his first primary as the county’s top election official. He also anticipates a third to half of all ballots to be cast by the close of early voting on Saturday. Only 58 voters requested a mail-in ballot, and in the first three days of excused in-person absentee voting, only a dozen ballots were cast. Four of those were election workers who are allowed to vote early.
New way to vote
Besides new days for voting, Crittenden County will have new machines to count votes and a more efficient election with a consolidation of voting locations. And for the first time in decades, every vote cast will have a paper trail.
The new machines, essentially, will not change how people vote. The overwhelming majority of voters will still mark a paper ballot with a pen and insert the completed ballot into a machine to be tabulated. However, a new electronic ballot-marking device will allow voters – primarily those with disabilities – to select candidates digitally and then print out those selections to be recorded by the scanner.
Voting locations on Election Day have been reduced from 12 to five for efficiency of both cost and finding poll workers.
All voters who live within the City of Marion and those who may live outside the incorporated limits but historically have voted at one of six locations within the city will now vote at only Marion Baptist Church. In fact, any voter in the county may vote at the church.
For the first time in memory, there will be no voting on Election Day at the courthouse, Marion Ed-Tech center, public library or Emmanuel Baptist and St. William Catholic churches. Tolu Community Center and Grace Baptist Church in Frances are also not hosting balloting for the first time in many years.
In the southern part of the county, all voters will poll at Mexico Baptist Church. That includes those who may have voted either at Mexico or Grace Baptist Church.
In District 2, both Tolu and Sheridan precincts will vote at Deer Creek Baptist Church.
Mattoon and Shady Grove voters will poll as always, at their respective fire stations.
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