$630,000 ALLOCATED TO 11 COUNTIES INCLUDING LAWRENCE TO UPGRADE VOTING MACHINES

WINNING CANDIDATES SUBJECT TO RECOUNT PETITIONS CERTIFIED FOR GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT

Also: $630,000 Allocated to 11 Counties to Upgrade Voting Machines

Frankfort, Ky. (August 16, 2022) – The six candidates for federal and state office who prevailed in the May 17 primary election, but were not previously certified for the general election ballot due to spurious recount petitions, have now been certified by unanimous, bipartisan vote of the State Board of Elections.

Certification of the winners of the Republican primary elections for the 3^rdCongressional District, 5^th Congressional District, 24^th State Senate District, and the 18^th, 24^th and 59^th State House Districts enables county clerks to begin preparing ballots for the general election. While the recount petitions and resulting litigation delayed this process, the statutory deadline of August 22 has been met. Judges around the Commonwealth have dismissed nearly all of the recount petitions, and a recount conducted in the 24^th State Senate District proved false the petitioners’ baseless allegation that Kentucky’s ballot-counting machines change votes.

As an example of the continuing harm of these frivolous recount efforts, recount petitioner Courtney Gilbert, according to the Elizabethtown News-Enterprise, cost “the LaRue County school system $5,000 as county voting machines have remained under seal from the May election and could not be used in the recent tax levy election.”

The Board also voted to allocate $630,000 to 11 counties for upgrading their voting equipment to paper-ballot-based, auditable machines. The counties and awarded amounts are:

• Henry – $50,000
• Taylor – $50,000
• Cumberland – $25,000
• Whitley – $90,000
• McLean – $20,000
• Bourbon – $40,000
• Perry – $92,500
• Simpson – $32,500
• Lincoln – $42,500
• Pike – $142,500
• Lawrence – $45,000

Since 2020, following procurement of a federal grant by Secretary Adams, the State Board of Elections has allocated nearly $3.5 million in federal funds to Kentucky counties for upgrading their voting machines.

Lawrence County Clerk Chris Jobe explained the process to The Lazer yesterday:

“…The State of Kentucky is requiring all voting machines to be upgraded to paper verified for a audit trail. The $45,000 is only a portion of the cost of reimbursement to the county.

In order to qualify for reimbursement the machines had to be purchased and used in this election cycle. We are supposed to take delivery on the machines today. All voting machines have to be upgrade by 2024.

The county will apply for additional funding through the Dept. of Local Government. There was legislation passed in the State Budget this year for additional funding for election equipment. The $45, 000 is the allotment from the State Board of Elections HAVA Fund or Help America Vote Act that was formed in the 2000’s.

The State Board determines the reimbursement based on the number of precincts each county has. Lawrence County has 18 precincts in a consolidated locations. The current voting machines we are using was also purchased through the HAVA program. They were purchased in 2006 and 2008. A lot of other counties already have purchased equipment and were used the Primary Election,” Jobe said.