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Polls in Jessamine County, Nicholasville, and Wilmore were bustling this morning, with people on their way to cast their votes for the General Election. 

According to Democracy Now, 78 million people voted during early voting this past weekend. We won’t have local turnout numbers for early voting until later tonight.

The Jessamine Journal visited a few of the ten available voting centers this morning from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

The Nicholasville Ride public transit system was certainly used today, dropping off many people at the library. 

Locations like the Jessamine County Fire Station 1 and West Jessamine Middle School had very short lines, with people getting in and out in five minutes at the latter. 

Southland Christian Church and Wilmore Elementary School had much longer lines. 

According to Jessamine County Sheriff’s Office Detective Matt Lytle, lines at East Jessamine School were about 45 minutes long from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. this morning, and he expects the end of the workday to bring another flush of voters to the location. 

More from Jessamine County residents: 

Leeann King showed up to the polls with her young daughter to “teach her the importance of voting. We’ve come every year. She’s come with me to vote since she was three,” she said. While voting at West Jessamine Middle School, King said the line was very quick. She’s most interested in “the presidential election, trying to choose a new president, and Amendment 2. I wanted to vote on that as well,” King said.

Many other parents brought their young ones to the polls. 

Corrie and D Merricks did. They said their experience voting at Wilmore Elementary was “good.” Corrie added, “We had to wait longer than usual, but no big deal. I am a public school teacher so I definitely voted no on Amendment 2 and I decided to vote for the hopefully first woman President, and bring my daughter to do it.”

Of course, people interviewed by the Journal also expressed their support for Kamala Harris’ opponent. 

Todd Yochem said his goal at the polls today was “to get Donald Trump back in office, and vote no on the school initiatives. It’s our civic duty.”

Lisa King was out voting with her husband, Tim, and she told the Journal, “no matter who wins it will be a rough four years because we both have somebody different who we’re voting for and I’m not telling.”

Robert Scheeley voted at the library and spoke a bit about his opinions of today’s presidential candidates without sharing who he voted for. “My opinion on it is you have to pick the lesser of two evils and go down the bullets of what’s good and what’s bad as much as you can, that’s the way I look at it,” Scheeley said. 

A few voters the Journal interviewed cited the economy as a significant issue bringing them to the polls, including Cambria Jenkins, who voted at the library; Tim King, who voted at Wilmore Elementary; and business owner Saroeun Ly, who voted at East Jessamine Middle School. 

Mark Heard retired from the military and teaches Intro to Business for sixth to eighth-grade students at West Jessamine Middle School. He also voted as West Jessamine since he is familiar with the school. “I would say the big [issue] for me is making sure the military has a sane Commander in Chief, if you will, someone who can lead effectively, and then, of course, the economy.” 

Amendment 2, as mentioned earlier, has also motivated many people to vote. 

Philnita Thomas and Steve Collins told the Journal in separate interviews that Amendment 2 got them to the polls. 

Other than at some of the busier voting locations, the process seemed to be quick this morning after the before-work rush for most Jessamine Countians. Ann Combs, who voted at West Jessamine Middle School, said her experience was “great. They set up lots of booths to vote, and everybody was friendly and helpful. I just want to vote for candidates that uphold our constitution and my values. I appreciate that in Jessamine County, you can vote at any of the voting facilities. I really like the flexibility,” Combs said.