By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus
Somerset — Registered voters who will be out of town on Election Day, or those who meet other qualifications, may vote in the Pulaski County clerk’s office as early as April 22, and requests for mail-in absentee ballots are being accepted up until seven days before the May 18 primary elections.
County Clerk Ralph Troxtell said an optical scanner and paper ballots as well as the federally required eSlate machine for physically challenged will be ready for voters in his office April 22. The clerk’s office also will be open from 8 a.m. until noon on May 15, the last Saturday before the primary elections, for walk-in absentee voters, he said.
“We’ve already got a few requests for mail-in absentee ballots,” Troxtell noted. Mail-in ballots must be returned to the clerk’s office by 6 p.m. Election Day to be counted.
Following are criteria for eligibility to vote by mail-in absentee ballot:
• Registered voters who are members of the military, their dependents, and overseas citizens.
• Students, registered to vote, who temporarily reside outside the county.
• Other registered voters who temporarily resides outside Kentucky, such as a vacationer.
• Registered voters incarcerated but not yet convicted.
• Registered voters whose employment takes them out of the county during all hours the polling places are open.
• Homebound voters and residents of nursing homes.
• Registered voters with a medical emergency may apply for an absentee ballot if a medical emergency occurs within 14 days before an election. The voter’s spouse, if registered, may also apply for an absentee ballot.
Registered absentee voters eligible to walk in and vote in the county clerk’s office, beginning April 22, are:
• A voter who sign an affidavit that he or she will be out of the county on Election Day.
• Military personnel, their dependents, and overseas citizens.
• Military personnel confined to base who learn of the confinement within seven days or less of an election.
• Students or residents who temporarily resides outside the county
• Voters who have surgery scheduled that will require hospitalization on Election Day, and the voter’s spouse.
• Pregnant women in third trimester.
• Election officials.
Deputy County Clerk Becca Godsey said there will be 85 names on the May 18 primary ballots. Candidates without opposition are not involved in the primaries and their names won’t be on the ballot until November. Also, not on primary ballots are independent, school board and small cities candidates who have until August 10 to file.
