Voters wait their turn outside the Barren County Extension Service on Thursday midmorning for no excuse early voting. Melinda J. Overstreet / Glasgow News 1
By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
For the first time in the past several months, more people in Barren County, and statewide, are opting to register as Republican voters rather than Independents.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams announced that statewide voter registration grew in September with Republicans seeing the highest numbers of new registrations, with a 4,636 voter increase between August and September. During the same time frame, Barren County gained 62 new Republican voters, according to the state board of elections.
The county also decreased in Democratic registration by 54 voters, which is mirrored statewide as Adams announced Kentucky lost 3,354 Democratic voters, a state press release stated.
On the county level, republican registration makes up 53 percent of the electorate, which is higher than the state’s 48 percent. Similarly, Democratic registration makes up 37.5 percent of our electorate, which is lower than the 41 percent reported at the state level.
For September, Republican registration equals 16,895 voters and Democratic registration is at 11,863. Independent voters equals 1,450 and Other registration is at 1,193.
Kentucky has closed primaries which means only those registered under one or the other major political party can vote, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Kentucky is one of 13 states that conduct closed primaries.
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