Kentucky’s largest county offers drive-through voting for first time

By Alexandra Hutzler

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CRESTWOOD, KENTUCKY - MAY 19: Voters cast their ballots at South Oldham Middle School on May 19, 2026 in Crestwood, Kentucky. Kentuckians will decide today who from each party will compete for retiring Senator Mitch McConnell's seat in the upcoming midterm elections. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Voting just got easier for residents of Kentucky’s most populous county, who for the first time will be able to cast their ballot on Election Day without leaving their car. 

Jefferson County, home to state capital Louisville, announced this week that it is creating a vote center at the Kentucky Exposition Center where residents will have the chance to use the more convenient drive-through option. The county touted it as an accessibility win for voters who have disabilities, in particular.

“This initiative will expand accessibility for residents with disabilities who may struggle to vote at traditional polling locations,” Jefferson County Clerk David Yates, a Democrat, posted on X along with a video of his announcement.

More than 1 in 4 U.S. adults live with some type of disability, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of the most common being mobility issues.

Jefferson County is home to more than half a million registered voters, and is a Democratic stronghold in a mostly red state. 

Yates said the idea was formed, in part, by talking to nursing home residents and hearing their concerns, including their skepticism of mail voting. Older voters are the largest voting bloc in Kentucky. Confidence in mail voting plummeted after President Donald Trump waged an unsuccessful attempt to restrict the popular balloting option this year.

“I promised I would make sure that they had a way to vote,” Yates told WHAS-TV.

The voter-friendly option comes after the Republican-controlled state legislature passed new election restrictions this spring. They restricted the kinds of ID that voters can use, removing Social Security and food assistance cards from the list of acceptable forms of identification.

The law also permits the State Board of Elections to share data with the federal government to flag potential noncitizens on the voter rolls. Anyone flagged would then have to provide proof of citizenship such as a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers before they head to the polls.

Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, vetoed the measure, but Republicans had the votes to override him.