The culmination of the Primary Election in 2020 occurs Tuesday. At precincts across the Commonwealth, voters are choosing their leaders. This year’s springtime election included three days of no-excuse early voting. Floyd County Clerk Chris Waugh would like to see more than three days of early voting. He’s been a county clerk in the eastern Kentucky county for 24 years. Waugh said the voting dynamics have changed a great deal.
“I believe the days when you could go to grandpa and grandpa was gonna make sure everybody in the family gets out to vote and ole grandpa could usually tell them how to vote, I think those days is over. I think it’s more individual lives now, which is a good thing,” said Waugh.
In adjacent Pike County, Clerk Rhonda Taylor thinks three days of early voting is about right. She said it takes a lot of work to coordinate an election.
“We had the in-person absentee voting which lasted six days. We had to prepare for that. We had three days of early voting. We had to prepare for that. And now we’re preparing for election day,” said Taylor.
Taylor noted just under 600 people voted in early voting out of more than 47,000 registered voters in her county. She thinks early voter turnout could increase over time. Chris Waugh would like to see more early voting days including the Monday before the Primary.