Printing error blamed for mistake on 1 single Jefferson County absentee ballot

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Jefferson County Board of Elections blames a printing error for a mistake on an absentee ballot, but officials say they don't believe it's a widespread issue.

Thus far, the board has only received one report of a printing error occurring on an absentee ballot. It says the voter received a ballot that had a portion of proposed Constitutional Amendment One missing and proposed Constitutional Amendment Two completely missing from the ballot, as well as several areas where bubbles should have been printed.

Constitutional Amendment One tackles the issue of whether the legislature can call itself into special session. Right now, only Kentucky's Governor can do so.

Constitutional Amendment Two is about abortion protections.

"We're glad that this voter had the indication that there was simply a printing error, that it wasn't a case that Amendment Two alone was left off the ballot -- and they called to confirm and to find out what to do next," said Erran Huber, a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County Clerk's Office.

The Jefferson County Board of Elections says it also reviewed several other ballots to look for any similar printing errors and didn't find any.

Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw is running for re-election. Over the weekend, her opponent Tina Ward-Pugh questioned Holsclaw's ability to run the clerk's office because of the mistake.

"I haven't been county clerk for nearly a century, but I'll tell you this, never heard of a printing setting error that effects one out of 15,000 ballots," Ward-Pugh told a crowd at a campaign event Saturday. "Don't you think Jefferson County deserves a county clerk who will be honest with you?"

On Monday afternoon, Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw issued a statement:

"I have always served the citizens of Jefferson County with honesty and bipartisanship, and always put people over politics. Tina Ward-Pugh is trying to politicize the most sacred part of democracy - the right to vote. The County Clerk's Office mailed out 15,702 absentee ballots and there has been one voter who received a misprinted ballot. The issue was immediately rectified and the voter cast their vote. I refuse to politicize this situation."

Anyone who notices a mistake on his or her ballot should bring it into the Election Center on East Liberty Street to get a new ballot. If the voter cannot go in person, he or she can write their vote by hand on the ballot, and a bi-partisan review committee can certify the vote.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams said he's aware of the mistake. He points out that ballot mistakes are few and far between, but are more likely on actual Election Day because poll workers are volunteers.

"It happens every election," he said. "We use humans and there's always human error and people innocently get the wrong ballot. Again, it happens a handful of times out of 1 million or 2 million votes, but it's a mistake and we don't want it to happen."

For more information about how to review your sample ballot or where you're supposed to vote, click here.