Lawrence County chosen for election audit
FRANKFORT – Lawrence County was one of six counties chosen last week for a post-election audit.
Lawrence, Fleming, Hickman, Livingston, Anderson and Boone counties were randomly selected for election audits, which will be conducted by the attorney general’s Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The inquiries will determine if any irregularities occurred during the Nov. 3 general election.
Kentucky law requires the attorney general to administer post-election audits in no fewer than five percent of Kentucky’s counties. Counties are chosen randomly in a public forum within 20 days of each primary and general election. Because the law prohibits counties from being audited in two consecutive elections, Floyd, Cumberland, Daviess, Monroe, Logan, and Simpson counties could not be selected. Post-election audits performed in these counties following the primary election did not reveal abnormalities or criminal conduct.
“Together, Kentuckians have faced head-on the difficulties of holding and participating in an election in the midst of a global pandemic,” said Attorney General Daniel Cameron bsaid. “Despite these challenges, we saw record numbers of Kentuckians vote this year, and we’ve worked hard to protect the integrity of both the primary and general election. This includes conducting post-election audits following the primary and conducting audits in the counties chosen today. I appreciate the work of our team in conducting these audits, and I applaud the county clerks who assist us during our review.”
Statewide voter turnout for the general election was 60.33 percent, compared to 59.1 percent in the last presidential election in 2016.
Turnout percentages in area counties for the November election were 54.46 percent in Lawrence County, 55.65 in Johnson County, 55.62 in Floyd County and 47.75 in Martin County.
Upon completion of the audits, DCI and the Attorney General’s Office of Special Prosecutions present their findings to the grand jury and chief circuit judge of each audited county.