May 30, 2018
WHAT ABOUT HINKLE VS. MUSIC PRIMARY VOTE COUNT?
LOUISA, Ky. — Last week saw the primary election for many important positions in local, state, and federal governments in Lawrence County and across the state. Both the Democrats and Republicans came in with some strong candidates, and this November’s election could be a dandy.
There was an oddity in the May 22 Primary, however, that involves Lawrence County Clerk Chris Jobe. When the election results were posted, the results for Kathy Hinkle (D-Louisa) vs. Brandon Music, (D-Grayson) running on the Democrat ticket for State Representative 96th district, had been redacted by the clerk.
The public hasn’t been allowed to see the results of the contest and many are asking why. Jobe (and perhaps an assistant) is the only one who knows how many votes Hinkle, who looks to run a strong race against incumbent Jill York (R-Grayson) in November, got and how many her opponent who was listed on the ballot received.
Don’t look forward to seeing those results anytime soon.
According to the Kentucky Revised Statutes, Jobe says, the results shouldn’t have been tallied and will not be released to the public.
So, why were both names still on the ballot?
A spokesperson with the Secretary of State’s Division of Candidate Filing said once candidates are certified by either the Secretary of State or the local clerk’s office (as required), the process starts rolling to get the ballots printed. By law, they must be completed no later than 50 days prior to the date of election.
Those who have followed this election, know that Hinkle’s Democrat opponent, Music, officially withdrew from the race on March 1st. While that would have been very close to the 50-day limit, Lawrence County’s ballots had already been printed by then.
According to Grey Maynard, deputy Lawrence co. clerk in charge of elections, Mr. Jobe received notice from the office of the Secretary of State prior to the election ordering that the results be redacted because, after Music’s withdrawal, Hinkle was left unopposed.
In Maynard’s opinion, there should have been no vote for a candidate on the Democrat ticket at all. If a person voted for Hinkle or Music, it was of no effect. Hinkle won by default.
Clerk Chris Jobe said he did as the law required in this situation. “To do anything else would have defied the law and it would have come at a major expense to taxpayers to reprint the ballots,” Jobe said.
