Owsley County Releases Polling, Early Voting Plan for 2026 Primary

Owsley County has filed its official voting plan for the May 2026 primary with the Kentucky State Board of Elections, spelling out where and when Booneville-area residents will be able to cast ballots across multiple voting windows this spring.

County Clerk Austin Bowling signed the formal submission, which outlines separate locations for excused absentee voting, no-excuse early voting, and Election Day polling, a layered structure that reflects both state requirements and decisions made locally at a December 16, 2025 Board of Elections meeting.

The absentee ballot drop box will be stationed at the Owsley County Clerk's Office on the first floor of the courthouse at 20 Main Street in Booneville, the same location designated for the six-day excused in-person absentee voting period. Those hours run 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Voters qualifying under an excused category will make their way to that ground-floor office to cast or deposit their ballots during that window.

No-excuse early voting, which allows any registered voter to cast a ballot without providing a reason, will take place upstairs in the Owsley County Courthouse at the same Main Street address. Hours for all three days of that period are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., a schedule that extends into early evening and offers working voters more flexibility than the excused absentee window.

On Election Day itself, voting will be split between two sites: the Owsley County Recreation Center and the lobby of the Owsley County High School gymnasium. Both locations have been used in prior elections, and the plan includes maps and supplemental narratives consistent with state filing requirements.

For voters in a rural county where distance and transportation can complicate participation, the concentration of absentee services at the clerk's office on the courthouse's first floor reduces the need to navigate multiple buildings. The courthouse's upstairs early voting room continues an arrangement that county officials recorded as successful in previous cycles.

Specific dates for the early voting and absentee periods within the May 2026 primary window have not yet been listed separately, and voters are encouraged to confirm any updates directly with the Owsley County Clerk's Office or through the Kentucky State Board of Elections website ahead of Election Day.