Voter registration in Jefferson Co. nears record

• For Kentucky-wide election information%2C visit elect.ky.gov. In Jefferson County%2C go to JeffersonCountyClerk.org.

A record 548,815 people are registered to vote in Jefferson County in the general election Tuesday, Nov. 4, newly released figures by the Jefferson County clerk's office and the county Board of Elections show.

Local registration is up about 10,000 from the May primary and up more than 22,000 from the November 2012 general election, figures indicate. There were no elections last year.

The voter registration deadline was Oct. 6. The ballot next Tuesday is extremely long, including more than 40 local non-partisan judicial races on the back. Every race offers the opportunity for a write-in candidate, so voting a ballot may take a while and lines may form at some sites.

Election officials predict a voter turnout Tuesday of around 65 percent, a relatively high figure for a non-presidential election.

Bombardment of the airwaves with political advertising has probably hyped voter interest in the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Mitch McConnell and Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, said Nore Ghibaudy, spokesman for the county Board of Elections.

But he also said a slew of local races is helping to spark interest. Those include some heated state legislative, Jefferson Board of Education and Louisville Metro Council races, as well as a long list of local judicial contests -- several of which have been heavily advertised.

Also on the ballot are races for 3rd District Congress, metro mayor, county clerk and suburban city offices.

Ghibaudy said that other signs of heightened interest include a steady stream of walk-in, advance voting at the county election headquarters on Barret Avenue, where people can vote during normal business hours if they will be unable to vote on Election Day.

Numbers weren't available, but Ghibaudy said there also have been many requests for absentee ballots.

Ghibaudy said the county clerk's office registered voters in recent months at numerous fairs and festivals, as well as at the Kentucky State Fair. The Democratic and Republican parties, and groups including the local League of Women Voters and the NAACP also registered voters, wherever possible, Ghibaudy said.

The final registration figures for Jefferson County show 317,540 registered Democrats, up about 18,000 from two years ago. Current GOP registration totals 179,972, about 12,000 more than in 2012.

There are now 297,147 women who are registered, compared with just over 250,000 men.

Meanwhile, the Kentucky Secretary of State's office has reported that more than 3.1 million people are registered statewide for the general election -- also an all-time high. Registration is up 1.4 percent, or about 41,800, from the May primary, the figures show.

Each of the political parties has seen an increase in registered voters since the May 20 primary election. Democrats currently constitute 53.5 percent of voters statewide, compared with 38.7 percent who are Republicans and 7.8 percent who are identified as "other" -- either independent or minor party affiliates.

About 53 percent of statewide registered voters are women.

Tuesday, Oct. 28, is the deadline for local county clerks to receive applications for mail-in absentee ballots for the election. Clerks must receive the completed mailed-in absentee ballot by 6 p.m. local time on Election Day.

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at (502) 582-7089. Follow him on Twitter at @sheldonshafer.