Historically, turnout for the governor’s primary election tends to be low. In 2011, 8.3 percent turned up at the polls and 12.1 percent in 2015. Regardless of the numbers, the Daviess County Clerk’s Office has been hard at work preparing for Tuesday’s election.
According to a press release from Deputy Chief Richard House, all precincts will be using the new electronic poll books to check in at the polling places. This technology has replaced paper roster books, which tend to slow down the voting process, House said.
“These iPad devices scan driver’s licenses for faster and more efficient check-in times,” he said. “This will speed up the process of identifying voters and getting them their proper ballots. We encourage voters to have the driver’s license handy when they enter the polling place.”
House said if a voter is identified by another means, there is a manual entry lookup for voters; however, the driver’s license is the fastest process. For Tuesday’s primary, each precinct will have only one electronic polling book, but in November’s general election, there will be multiple devices for the anticipated larger crowd.
Daviess County has 75,106 total registered voters. Kentucky is a closed primary state, which means only voters who were registered with either the Republican or Democratic parties as of Dec. 31, 2018, are eligible to vote. Voters can only vote for candidates from their registered parties. Other parties or nonpartisan voters do not have eligible candidates on the ballot. In the general election in November, all voters will be eligible to vote. There are currently 40,266 registered Democrats and 28,856 registered Republicans.
House said there were three precinct changes made for the primary election. Precinct Northtown, formerly at Audubon Elementary School, will be moved to Crosspointe Baptist Church located at 550 Worthington Rd. Precincts 1 and 4 will remain at Audubon Elementary School.
Precinct Southtown, formerly at Centre Court Tennis Facility, will be moved to the Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club located at 3415 Buckland Square. Precinct 44 will remain at Centre Court Tennis Facility.
Precinct 18, formerly at Owensboro Parks and Recreation Center, has been moved to Life Community Church located at 1101 Breckenridge St.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. A sample ballot for Daviess County can be found here. Precinct locations, as well as results for the primary, can be found here. For any other information or questions, House said voters may call 270-685-8434 ext. 3.
