How to Vote

Vote by Mail (Mail-In Absentee)

Request your mail-in ballot at least 14 days before the election. You may qualify to have a ballot mailed to your home if you can’t vote in person and you:

• Will be out of Fayette County during all in-person absentee voting days and hours;
• Are enrolled in the Safe at Home Address Confidentiality Program; or
• Are sick, have a disability, or are older and cannot vote in person (and have not been declared mentally disabled by a court).

A ballot may be mailed elsewhere if you can’t vote in person and you are: in the military or overseas; a student living outside the county; in jail but not yet convicted; a former resident voting only for President/Vice President; temporarily out of state but still a resident; or sick/disabled and need the ballot sent to a hospital or care center.

Request an absentee ballot → Questions? Call 859-255-8683

In-Person Absentee — With an Excuse

If you live in Fayette County and didn’t request a mail-in ballot, you may vote early in person with a qualifying reason.

Where

Fayette County Clerk’s Office, 162 E Main Street, Lexington

Hours

8:00 AM – 4:30 PM

When

During the six business days before the Thursday prior to Election Day

Qualifying reasons include: military or overseas voters out of the county; a planned surgery/hospital stay; being temporarily out of Kentucky but still a resident; military members confined to base; third-trimester pregnancy; being elderly, sick, or disabled; students living outside the county; work and travel that prevents voting during poll hours; election officers; being out of the county for all of early voting and Election Day; or a caregiver driving a voter to the clerk’s office.

Military & Overseas Voters (UOCAVA)

Federal law helps U.S. service members and citizens living abroad vote by mail in federal elections, including use of the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB).

Register

Submit a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA); your County Clerk must receive it by the voter registration deadline

Get a ballot

Use the FPCA to request one — the Clerk must receive your request at least 7 days before the election

Submit to

Fayette County Clerk, 162 E Main St., Room 202, Lexington, KY 40507

Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) → or call 800-438-VOTE (8683)

Medical Emergency Absentee

If a medical emergency occurs within 14 days of the election, you may qualify to vote by absentee ballot.

• The application must state that the emergency happened within the 14 days before the election, and it must be notarized.
• It can be requested and delivered by the voter, or the voter’s spouse, parent, or child (or, if none are available, a sibling, niece, nephew, or designated person).
• The ballot may only be used by the voter.

To start, contact the Elections Department at 859-255-8683