Leaders working to safeguard Kentucky elections as votes come in

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Election fraud is a nationwide focus that will have attorney general hotlines burning all day.

Thousands have already cast in-person ballots in Kentucky because of early voting. That means the Fraud Hotline at the attorney general's office has been taking calls.

The complaints range from campaign violations to potential vote bribery, to electioneering. As of Nov. 7, the office has received 93 pre-election complaints.

Amy Burke, with the Kentucky Attorney General's Office, said there were more than 450 complaints in 2020, 32 were referred for further investigations, and three cases led to prosecution.

Procedures for investigation remain the same as in years past, but there is a high alert for poll worker safety.

"A little bit more of poll worker safety and everyone being safe at the polls, be it the poll workers, be it the people going to the polls," Burke said. "So there are things we watch more heavily I think that we have in previous years that have become an issue."

Jefferson County has more than 200 precincts open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Each paper ballot cast is counted through an electronic machine that is not connected to the internet.

"Paper is a lot better because it is really hard to hack a pencil and a piece of paper," Erran Huber, with the Jefferson County Board of Elections, said.

The Tabulation Committee will be reviewing all the results and the process will be streamed online.

"We can still go through and electronically tally those and have a paper record that we can go back through and reassess if need be," Huber said.

Winners will be projected Tuesday night, but UK Law Professor Josh Douglas has a reminder.

"The results are not final until they're certified by the Secretary of State, which could take several weeks," Douglas said.

There's also the expanding issue of post-election lawsuits, a trend he expects to continue after the general election.

"Now you can't run a campaign without having a litigation strategy ready to go, which I think is really unfortunate, but we're in this point now," Douglas said.

Each state has a hotline voters can call if they suspect fraud. In Kentucky, voters can dial 1-800-328-VOTE (8683). For more information about Kentucky's Election Fraud Hotline, click here.

In Indiana, voters can call 866-IN1-VOTE (866-461-8683). For more information about reporting suspected election fraud in Indiana, click here.