Jefferson County Tallying 23,000 Handwritten Ballots
Clerk David Yates explains the manual verification process required by state law to validate write-in entries before the November 10 certification deadline.
By Lucas Chen ·
More than 23,000 write-in votes are currently under review in Jefferson County. Clerk David Yates stated that his office has tracked this volume across all local races, a figure that dwarfs the small number of candidates who formally registered for these ballots.
Only three candidates filed the necessary paperwork to be recognized as approved write-in options. Jeff Yocum, the mayoral candidate, is among the three. The remaining two candidates also submitted the required forms to ensure their names appear on the official list of valid entries.
Kentucky law requires two election workers to independently verify each handwritten name. Yates explained that candidates must list multiple spelling variations on their registration documents to account for common voter typos. One candidate, for example, listed nine different variations of their name to cover potential errors.
Staff members work through the ballots in real time. As a worker clicks to the next entry, the system displays the name. The employee compares it against the registered variations. If the entry matches one of the listed spellings, it is counted. If it does not match, the worker moves to the next ballot.
The office must complete this manual review and certify the final results to the Secretary of State’s Office by Tuesday, Nov. 10. This date marks the end of the official certification window for the county’s general election outcomes.
Source: WDRB
