Polls are now closed in Kentucky for the primary election.
Voters in Jefferson County can cast ballots today in the Republican, Democratic and non-partisan primaries — that last category is for judicial races — to choose the candidate that will represent them in the General Election in November. Kentucky does not have open primaries, so only voters registered by party can vote in their party's election.
Here's a look at live results for some of the major races:
Mike Reilly was one of the first voters to arrive at Jeffersontown High School. He came to vote after his morning workout. Reilly is voting in the Republican primary, and is most focused on the mayoral election. He says he thinks the next mayor needs to “prove downtown is safe,” after the demonstrations of 2020.
Ronald Palmer was working at Shawnee Arts and Cultural Center on Tuesday morning. He's been working at polling locations in his community for over a decade. He said the days are long, but enjoyable as he gets to catch up with neighbors.
It was a slow trickle of voters early Tuesday morning. Palmer said low early turnout has several factors.
"Normally when there's a presidential election, it's very very busy. I think with the early voting, that has done something to make it a short turnout, a small turnout," he said.
Lamont Warfield voted in the Democratic primary. He said he's focused on the mayoral race, and cast his vote for Timothy Findley Jr. Warfield is worried about the rise of white nationalist extremism, and thinks Findley is the right candidate to address it locally.
While many people came in knowing who they want to be Louisville's next mayor, the down-ballot races don't get as much focus. A voter at Iroquois High School named Shannon, who didn't want to give her last name, counted nine non-partisan judicial races on her ballot.
She said in years past, she's left some of those races blank. This year she used the WFPL voter guide to help her decide on those races.
Bionca Gill brought her kids with her to vote at Iroquois High School. Gill, a Democrat who was active in the protest movement of 2020, said she was casting her ballot for Attica Scott in the race for the 3rd Congressional District.
“I’ve just been a supporter of hers for a while, you know seeing her work and how she speaks up and uses her voice,” Gill said.
Eight Democratic candidates are vying to win the party's election to face off against a Republican primary winner in November's election. Voter Enidza Torres cast her ballot for Craig Greenberg.
She said she heard his name a lot and was curious what he has to offer the city.
As people vote in person, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are up in Jefferson County.
At Bates Memorial Baptist Church in downtown Louisville, the door had signs stating that masks were required to enter the building. The policy wasn't being actively enforced, but a few voters returned to their cars to grab face coverings before heading inside, including Maria Gurren.
Gurren said she felt comfortable coming out to vote in person and without a mask. However, she does believe that some of the COVID policies created during the 2020 election should stay in place to help accessibility.
"I think that we learned a lot during COVID about some of the benefits of folks being able to mail their ballot in and sit at home and research candidates and fill it out, especially folks who may have difficulty getting to the polls for one reason or another," Gurren said.
Voting resources
Check your precinct and polling location here. If you are in line by 6 p.m., state law says you must be allowed to vote.
You can view sample ballots here, and look up your Metro Council district by entering your address into LOJIC here. Here is a breakdown of the forms of identification that poll workers must accept when you go vote.
Breya Jones, Jess Clark, Gabrielle Jones and Rebecca Feldhaus Adams contributed to this story.
This story was updated at 7:20 p.m.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of Democrats in the mayoral primary.