Republicans are heading to the polls to participate in Kentucky’s GOP presidential caucus today.
Reports from across the state show bustling crowds in many caucus locations, which are open Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
More than 100 caucus-goers lined up in advance of doors opening at Henry Clay High School in Lexington Saturday morning. Organizers said the crowd has been “larger than expected,” but no official voter turnout number has been tallied.
Lexington attorney Chris Hunt was passing out information supporting candidate Ted Cruz outside of the Lexington caucus site. Hunt said he likes the fact that the caucus is so early in the nominating process.
“It’s always been a little disappointing to me as a Kentuckian that we’ve been so late in the process that a lot of the time, our primary didn’t seem to have as much impact on the election,” he said.
The Kentucky Republican Party decided to switch to a March 5 caucus from a May 17 primary last year.
Party officials say the contest is much like a conventional election, but there are notable exceptions. Most counties have only one caucus location, meaning voters in remote parts of counties will have to travel to a central polling place.
Also, supporters are allowed to advocate for their candidates very near the polling stations — normally, “electioneering” is forbidden within 100 feet of a polling place.
“I like the idea that people can gather some information, there can be some give and take. They can talk to somebody in person about those things if they’re on the fence,” Hunt said.
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul cast his ballot in Bowling Green this morning but declined to say who he voted for.
Although Paul was for a time running for Senate and the White House simultaneously, he suspended his presidential campaign last month to focus on reelection to his senate seat.
Paul convinced party officials to switch to a caucus last year to skirt a state law that forbids candidates from appearing on the same ballot twice.
