Quick Takes

12 counties selected for routine audit of general election results

By: - November 21, 2023 12:22 pm

A voter approaches the Morton Middle School polling site in Lexington, Nov. 7, 2023. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Matthew Mueller)

The Kentucky attorney general’s office will begin its post-election audits after selecting 12 counties from a drawing Tuesday.?

As it has regularly done after elections, the office will review audits from the selected counties to ensure the most recent general election was conducted properly and without issues. Deputy Attorney General Vic Maddox drew the names from a small barrel and signed the order during a press conference.?

“Because these are random drawings, no county can be sure that it’s not going to be audited for review,” Maddox told reporters. “So any time that’s the case, I think you’ve got sort of an extra element of assurance for the process.

Department of Criminal Investigations Commissioner Greg Wolf, who’s department reviews results, said the audits are part of a routine process.?

“We had people out on Election Day also monitoring the polls. We were doing reports. We’re talking to the clerks,” Wolf said. “We feel like this just keeps a good line of communication open. If they’re having any issues, having any problems, they know who of our group to get a hold of.”?

Tuesday’s drawing was also the first time that counties previously selected were still included in the drawing because of a recent change in state law, Maddox said. The law requiring a dozen counties to be audited after an election was passed by the General Assembly in 2022.?

Wolf said the review of audits can take some time, especially with larger counties. He added that audits from the spring are almost complete.?

The counties selected for the general election audit were:

  • Fayette
  • Webster
  • Perry
  • Fleming
  • Meade
  • Greenup
  • Mercer
  • Hancock
  • Johnson
  • Martin
  • Oldham
  • Grayson

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McKenna Horsley
McKenna Horsley

McKenna Horsley covers state politics for the Kentucky Lantern. She previously worked for newspapers in Huntington, West Virginia, and Frankfort, Kentucky. She is from northeastern Kentucky.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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