Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes predicted early this week that voter turnout for Tuesday’s primary election would be less than 30 percent. She was right: Statewide voter turnout was about 26 percent among a record number of registered voters at 3,105,349. … By 7 p.m., Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway’s office reported 205 calls to the Election Fraud Hotline, including almost 50 involving vote buying or selling, or bribery. The vote-buying complaints were from 18 counties, mostly in Eastern Kentucky. There were multiple allegations involving vote-buying from Bell, Breathitt, Clay and Pike counties.Breathitt County had the most calls to the hotline, 16 in all, including eight involving vote buying or selling, two calls about disruptions at polls, and one complaint about electioneering within 300 feet of the polls. The Attorney General investigates and prosecutes election-law violations and conducts random post-election audits in six counties 30 days after the election.
On primary election day in 2012, a presidential election year, the hotline received 31 calls from 14 counties. For the 2012 general election, there were 183 calls from 57 counties.
Investigators from the Office of the Attorney General patrolled precincts and polling places across the commonwealth during the primary.
The state Board of Elections also reported numerous calls Tuesday morning from voters and county clerks with procedural questions.
Grimes’ office had this statement: “The state board has worked with county election officials to promptly and efficiently resolve any issues and preserve Kentuckians’ right to vote.”
Full Article: Primary election sees light turnout; vote-buying complaints made in 18 counties | Politics and Government | Kentucky.com.