LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Jefferson County was one of 12 counties randomly drawn for a post-election audit by Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman on Wednesday.
Nov. 5 came with long lines outside of polling locations in Jefferson County. The county clerk, Bobbie Holsclaw, said their electric poll books were updating slower than normal due to the large number of absentee ballots. Some voters left and had to choose whether to come back or not vote at all.
Kentucky Democrats filed a motion to extend voting hours because of this issue, but it was denied.
Coleman spoke about the amount of reports received from Jefferson County this election cycle.
The number of reports and their nature are organized by county and can be viewed by clicking this link.
"It's especially important that we conduct, though, our investigation in Jefferson County," said Coleman. "On Election Day, our election fraud hotline received more than 150 complaints. That is 150 complaints from Jefferson County alone on Election Day."
"I think [the audit] is needed," poll worker Rosalind Welch said.
Welch has been a poll worker in the county for 10 years and was working that day.
"It's almost as if fate wanted us to be audited with this, with what happened," said Welch. "To be one of the 12 counties chosen, for the AG just to investigate, look into what happened during the General Election, I think will put a lot of minds at ease."
Welch was just as frustrated with the lines as voters, concerned about the workers who came early in the morning and worked long shifts,
"We were pushing people through one at a time," said Welch. "I can check in one person, the entire system would crash. I would have to reboot the entire piece back up and then I would be able to check in the next person."
Holsclaw has previously taken responsibility for the issues. WHAS11 reached out to her office for a comment on the attorney general's drawing, and was provided the following statement:
"We appreciate the Attorney General's audit. It presents a valuable opportunity to demonstrate to the voters of Jefferson County that we are committed to safeguarding the integrity of elections while delivering transparency. Our team is dedicated to implementing any recommended improvements to ensure our processes are as efficient, secure, and accessible as possible. We understand the importance of maintaining public trust, and we are eager to work collaboratively with the Attorney General’s office to address any issues identified. By doing so, we aim to provide a voting experience that upholds the highest standards of fairness and accuracy, reinforcing our commitment to serving the community with honesty and dedication."
"That's what we want to change," said Welch. "We want it to be a more transparent. We want some accountability to it, but we want to make sure that this never happens again."
Welch added the investigation will give the office and Board of Elections the tools needed to fix issues. Plus, she said, the county has all of 2025 to make changes to ensure the situation won't happen again.
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