Kentucky officials insist election is secure after video claims to show ballot malfunction

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Election officials are reassuring voters after a Laurel County, Kentucky, woman posted a video that appeared to show the machine's touchscreen not accepting a vote for Donald Trump.

The video shows the woman repeatedly tap Donald Trump's name on the touchscreen, but it never gets selected. At one point, when trying to tap Trump's name, Kamala Harris' name was selected.

Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown said the machine was immediately examined.

"I mean when, I first saw (the video), I was disturbed, of course," he said.

Brown and an investigator with the Kentucky Attorney General's Office confirmed it appears the issue happened because the woman wasn't tapping in the correct place.

The woman was able to eventually cast her ballot correctly, but the video she uploaded to TikTok caused quite an uproar.

"It's gone on social media and it's created a firestorm for us," Brown said.

So Brown posted another video that shows him testing the same machine. In the video, he explains that if you tap anywhere in the candidate's box, it should work correctly. He said the problem only occurs if the voter taps too close to the perimeter of the box, or in between selections.

"We've used it for four years," Brown said. "We've never had this issue pop up."

Brown said there is some confusion about how the machines function. The machines only mark paper ballots with the voters' selections. They do not tally the votes.

The same type of machine is used at Louisville's polling locations, and Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw said it's easy for a simple glitch or user error to get blown out of proportion.

"It just takes one video like that to make people more concerned," Holsclaw said. "And there really isn't any reason for concern."

In the state of Kentucky, voters are allowed up to three ballots. So if, for some reason, a box is checked incorrectly, a voter can ask a poll worker to "spoil" the ballot and ask for another. Voters are allowed to spoil up to two ballots.

Holsclaw assures voters the election is secure.

"We're going to make sure that your vote is counted and that it's safe," she said.

Voters in Jefferson County can use electronic ballots or make selections by hand.

The Department of Justice announced Friday that 87 jurisdictions across 27 states will be supervised on Election Day, including Jefferson County.

Election Day is Nov. 5. The polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. If you're looking for a place to vote early ahead of Election Day, you can find one near you below: