Daviess County was randomly selected Monday as one of six counties that will undergo post-primary election audits, a statewide process that is required by law to help monitor for voter fraud.
Kentucky law requires the Office of the Attorney General to administer post-election audits in no fewer than five percent of Kentucky’s counties and to randomly select these counties in a public forum within 20 days of each primary and general election.
“It’s a procedural thing, it’s not that big of a deal,” said Daviess County Clerk Leslie McCarty. “During the audit they have a list of 18 items that they need. They go through that and make sure there are not any irregularities.”
Votes are not recounted as part of the audit.
Among the list of items that must be submitted by the Clerk’s Office are a list of all election officers, assistance forms, various absentee paperwork, election totals and other similar records by the Daviess County Election Board.
According to a release from Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office, the Department of Criminal Investigations will conduct independent inquiries to uncover any irregularities in the June 2020 primary election.
Upon completion of the audits, DCI investigators will present the results before the grand juries of each audited county, who in turn report the findings to the chief circuit judge.
Two voters were flagged in Daviess County on the day of the primary for voting twice. One was ruled an accident. The other is suspected to be intentional voter fraud. That case was sent to the grand jury but has yet to be heard, according to McCarty.
“We only know of two, and those two were previously reported,” McCarty said. “That system proved that we were able to catch things. It worked very well.”
The Attorney General’s office monitors the Election Fraud Hotline throughout the year, and hotline complaints related to the June 2020 primary election can be viewed by visiting ag.ky.gov/Election-Hotline-Updates. Suspected election fraud can be reported by calling 1-800-328-VOTE.
