Kentucky’s closed primaries exclude fastest-growing voter group. Should that change?

By: McKenna Horsley

Outlets: Kentucky Lantern

Published: February 17, 2026

Words: 1,387

Last Updated: 2 weeks, 6 days ago

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On May 19, about 1 in 10 registered Kentucky voters will not be eligible to cast a ballot in the state’s partisan primaries because they are not Republicans or Democrats.

Kentucky is one of eight states in the nation that have closed primaries, or primaries that allow only registered members of the Republican and Democratic parties to cast ballots in those parties’ primaries. Still, Kentuckians in increasing numbers have been registering as …

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