Early voters beat lines to cast their ballot

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-Early voting has officially kicked off for the midterm election.

“This location has had over 1,200 voters. That’s a lot for 4 hours,” said Warren County Deputy Clerk Rachel Whitlow.

Implemented during the pandemic, officials have kept the early voting period in place. They’ve seen benefits, especially for voter turnout.

“People want to come out and vote early because they don’t always have the opportunity on Tuesday on the one day we used to have on election day. They can come in and it’s a lot less crowded than election day so they enjoy being able to come in and come out without much of a wait,” said Whitlow.

And that’s exactly what voters tell News 40. Some people want to avoid the crowds that are typically seen on election day.

“I just wanted to basically get it over with and I didn’t think it would be a big crowd like it is on election day, I was free today so I just came and did it,” said early voter Bobby Jordan.

“It’s a beautiful day and I thought there might be less crowds today and I wanted to get it done, I wanted to make sure I voted,” said voter Jane Hendrick.

Some voters say that because they can’t make it to a voting center on election day. They wouldn’t be able to cast their ballot if not for early voting.

“It’s a new opportunity to cast your vote so we thought we’d take advantage of it and we are doing some traveling in November so it’s really convenient for us,” said the Ramseys’.

Early voting polls are open until Saturday, November 5th.