LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Kentucky's Attorney General will audit the election process in a dozen counties, including Jefferson County.

The state hopes the audit will protect the integrity of the ballot box for years to come.

There are 120 counties here in Kentucky, and early Wednesday afternoon, the Office of the Attorney General randomly selected 12 of them for post-election day inquires.

Nearly 358,000 people voted in Jefferson County this Election Day.

Nino Owens was one of them.

"In general, in Louisville I've always had quick voting times," Owens said. "Probably the most I've ever spent in a polling location was 10 minutes until the prior election."

Owens said he waited in line for three hours at the first polling place he went to.

"The polling, the voting devices that they used to pull up your voter identification, weren't working correctly," Owens said.

He said he ended up leaving and going to another place to cast his vote.

State law requires the Office of the Attorney General to complete post-election audits.

Twelve counties are randomly selected within 20 days of the general election.

"There's tension in here," Kentucky AG Russell Coleman said. "You could cut it with a knife."

Calloway, Jefferson, Daviess, Jessamine, Boyle, Barren, Warren, Campbell, Metcalfe, Edmonson, Lincoln, and Trigg were selected this year.

"This is not an adversarial process," Coleman said. "This is an opportunity to show Kentuckians, if something is broken and something was broken in Jefferson County, we know that. We know Ms. Holsclaw has made comments in that affect. We will flush that out. We hope this will be a collaborative process with her."

WDRB went to the Jefferson County Clerk’s Office to ask questions.

It provided a 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."

After the problems he faced, Owens believes the audit process is a step in the right direction.

"It probably won't change, especially the Presidential outcome in Kentucky or anything like that," Owens said. "But to know more about the system, to know more about what went wrong with the system, so in the future, it doesn't happen again will be would be beneficial."

After completing independent investigations, the Office of the Attorney General will present those findings to grand juries in each of those counties.

Wednesday’s public drawing was live-streamed and can be viewed here.

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