KENTUCKY, USA — The Kentucky State Board of Elections said they have not received any complaints from voters about issues with their ballots after a social media posts about a ballot being pre-marked.
An image circulating on social media appears to show a paper ballot with a small pre-printed dot in a selection field.
The image was accompanied by a statement suggesting the paper ballot would be “void” since marks would exist for more than one candidate.
The board of elections said county clerks have mailed out over 130,000 mail-in absentee ballots.
"As of today, the State Board of Elections, nor the Attorney General’s office, has been made aware of any complaints from Kentucky voters regarding mail-in absentee ballots having pre-printed marks in candidate selection fields," the statement from the board of elections said.
They also said during three-day, no-excuse, in-person absentee voting over 656,000 Kentuckians cast paper ballots in person.
As of Monday, the board says they have not gotten any complaints about ballots with pre-printed marks in candidate selection fields during this time either.
They say since no one has given a pre-marked ballot to election administrators or law enforcement, the claim currently "only exists in the vacuum of social media."
They go on to say that even if this situation did happen, it wouldn't necessarily void this voters ballot.
"Every mail-in absentee ballot is sent to a voter with an accompanying instruction sheet that informs voters that if more than one candidate choice is marked in ink, the ballot will be counted if the voter circles their preferred choice," the statement said.
They also say if a voter were to get a paper ballot with a pre-printed mark inside of a candidate selection field during any day of in-person voting, whether before or on election day, the voter would be entitled to spoil the pre-marked ballot and receive another “clean” ballot.
A voter can do this before making any candidate selections or if their ballot is read by the ballot scanner to contain selections for more candidates than allowed, known as an “over vote.”
Whether a voter is using a paper mail-in absentee ballot or an in-person paper ballot, Kentucky law allows voters to register their vote if a pre-marked ballot, like the one alleged in the social media post, actually happens.
If something like this alleged pre-marked ballot does happen, voters can always reach out to their local county clerk and the office of the attorney general at 1-800-328-VOTE.
Election Day is Nov. 5 and you can learn more about how to prepare for it in WHAS11's voter guide.
