nominees next Tuesday

More Kentuckians are registered to vote than ever before, according to figures released by Secretary of State Trey Grayson and the Kentucky State Board of Elections.

The primary election for state constitutional offices will be held a week from today, Tuesday, May 22.

In total, 2,795,013 citizens will appear on Kentucky's voter rolls for the May 22 primary election. That compares to the previous record, set in the 2004 general election, which totaled 2,794,286. There were 2,766,288 citizens registered to vote in the 2006 general election and 2,709,959 in the 2006 primary.

The registration totals are a net increase of 28,725 voters from those who were registered to vote in the 2006 general election, increasing the voter rolls by 1.04%.

Compared to the 2003 primary registration figures, there has been a net increase of 112,016 in total voters, or 4.18%; 8,559 in Democratic voters, or 0.54%; 95,332 in Depublican voters, or 10.28%, and 8,126 “other” voters, or 4.70%.

Logan County didn't play much to contribute to the increases. According to County Clerk Scottie Harper, the number of registered voters has grown by only 19 since the last gubernatorial election in 2003.

Democrats, Republicans, and “others” increased their number of registered voters by 0.81%, 1.15%, and 2.39% since November 2006, respectively.

Democrats increased their voters by 12,818 to 1,591,091. Republicans increased their voters by 11,674 to 1,022,860. “Others” increased their voters by 4,233 to 181,062.

Again, Logan County bucked the trend. The number of registered Democrats here has gone down by 546 (from 12,536 to 11,990, 4.4 percent) while the number of registered Republicans has increased by 497 (from 3,033 to 3,530, 16.6%).

Logan County's “Others” increased from 831 to 899 or 8.1 percent. People who are not affiliated with a party don't get to vote in primary elections, which are designed for parties to choose their candidates. All registered voters are eligible for the general election in November..

Republicans and “others” now comprise 36.60% and 6.48%, respectively, of Kentucky voters, respectively. That is an increase of .05% and .09%, respectively, since the general election.

Registration figures continued to show little change in the percentage of male and female voters with females representing nearly 53% of the registration population and males representing 47%. In terms of party registration.

Harper says in Logan County the number of male registrants has gone down slightly in the last four years (from 7,644 to 7,618, down 26)) while female registrants went up from 8,756 to 8,801 (plus 45).

There has been very little campaigning going on in Logan County. Last Tuesday, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer appeared at the local Republican headquarters. He was the first candidate below lieutenant governor in either party to make a public appearance, as far as the N-D&L is aware.

On Page B-2 in this edition, the first advertisement for an individual political candidate appears. It for Bob Bullock, who is running for attorney general as a Democrat.

Secretary Grayson noted that the election's focus now shifts to getting people to the polls on Election Day. “Now that the registration books are closed, we must work diligently to see that every registered Kentuckian votes in the May 22

primary.”

Grayson encouraged citizens to utilize the Voter Information Center (VIC) on the State Board of Election's website to confirm their voter registration, determine whether they are eligible to vote in the primary, and to locate their polling place. For complete registration statistics and additional election information or to access the VIC, please visit www.elect.ky.gov.