LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Thousands of people are voting by mail in the 2020 general election because of the coronavirus pandemic. While some are used to voting absentee, others may be going through this process for the first time.
Here are the answers to some common questions about absentee ballots in Kentucky:
Where do I return my absentee ballot?
Absentee ballots can be mailed to your local county clerk's office once they are completed. If you don't want to mail them, you can drop them off at a designated location determined by the County Clerk.
In Jefferson County, absentee ballots can be dropped off at the KFC Yum! Center, Kentucky Expo Center, Kentucky Center for African American Heritage or the Louisville Marriott East - the four early voting locations in the county.
Absentee ballots must be in the hands of election officials by noon on Nov. 3.
Can I track my absentee ballot?
If you requested an absentee ballot before the deadline, you can check the status of your ballot on GoVoteKy.com. You will need to enter your name, date of birth and the last four digits of your social security number. Once you enter your information, select “Show Absentee Ballot Status.”
The website will tell you when you requested your ballot and when it was mailed to you. Once you return your ballot, you can also check to see when it has been accepted by the County Clerk.
When will my ballot be counted?
While ballots can be processed when they're received by the County Clerk's Office, totals will not be calculated until Election Day, Nov. 3. Jared Dearing, the Kentucky Board of Elections executive director, said those results will not be available until after election night.
How and when is my ballot counted?
According to the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office, absentee ballots go through a very long and thorough inspection process before they are counted for an election.
Here are the steps:
- Once you return your ballot – either through the mail or by using a designated dropbox – it goes to the County Clerk’s Office in the county where you live.
- When it arrives, someone in the clerk’s office will scan the barcode on the envelope, which gives you credit for voting in the election. You can check whether your ballot has been received by going to the Kentucky Voter Portal online.
- After the ballot is scanned, it is reviewed by a bipartisan team, which will check your signature against your voter registration card.
- Another bipartisan team with then compare your outer envelope signature against the inner envelope signature. It’s important that you sign both the inside and outside of the inner envelope.
- If a reviewer has a question about your ballot, it will be sent to another bipartisan team for a second review.
- Once the signatures are verified, the privacy envelope is opened and the actual ballot is scanned. The flap on the envelope that has your name on it is removed, so every vote stays anonymous.
- All of the verified ballots are counted, to make sure they are all accounted for, then a bipartisan team scans them, just like you would if you were voting in-person.
This process is established to ensure the integrity of the election, and it means you need to pay extra attention when filling out your ballot. If you don’t fill out and sign both envelopes, your ballot will not count.
In the Kentucky primary election in June, thousands of absentee ballots were rejected because they weren’t signed properly.
If I requested an absentee ballot and it doesn’t come, can I still vote?
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: You'll have to wait before heading to the polls.
If you’ve requested a ballot in Kentucky and it doesn’t arrive, you can vote in-person starting on Oct. 28, according to Kentucky election officials. If your absentee ballot arrives after you’ve already voted in-person, don’t fill it out – that is considered voting twice, which is a felony.
The Jefferson County Clerk’s Office said if your ballot comes in the mail after you’ve voted, the best thing to do is destroy it.
If you have a question about voting, you can send a text to our Voter Access team at 502-582-7290 and we'll try to find the answer for you!
For more information on voting in Kentucky, visit our Voter's Toolkit page.
Once election results are released, the information will be available on our free WHAS11 app as well as at whas11.com/elections.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.