BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — With an unprecedented write-in election for the next Martin County Judge/Executive, members of the county’s board of elections want to educate voters on the write-in process before Nov. 8.
Martin County Clerk Susie Skyles serves as chairperson, and Inez banker James Ayers is a commissioner of the county board of elections. The two were guest speakers at the Kiwanis Club luncheon Thursday at Shufflin’ Café in Inez.
“It’s really easy to vote on the machines for a write-in,” Skyles stated.
Voters will still see former candidate Colby Kirk’s name on the ballot for judge/executive, but votes for Kirk will not count as he officially withdrew from the election Oct. 14.
“You’ll see the little ‘write-in’ box,” advised Skyles, pointing to the square on the left under Kirk’s name on the ballot. “You’ll push that on the machine, the keyboard will come up, and you will type in the name.”
Any voter needing assistance at the polling place can ask a poll worker.
Votes for write-in candidates on paper ballots must be written. The clerk stated stickers and stamps would not count.
“We also have to be able to read the names,” added Skyles. “So, I’m pushing everyone to print.”
Write-in votes will be counted only for candidates who have filed a declaration of intent with the county clerk before the Oct. 28 deadline. Thus far, four have registered to run for Martin County Judge/Executive: Dr. Lon Lafferty, Jimmy Don Kerr, Marlena Slone and Benjamin York. One write-in candidate has registered in the Martin County Sheriff race: Millard E. Harmon.
Ayers stressed that writing in only the first name of a candidate will not count as a vote.
“The last name is vitally important in having votes all count,” Ayers said. “For example, we all know John [Triplett] as ‘John R.’ If he were running and he got 100 votes for ‘John R,’ those votes would not count. … The last name has to be there.”
The board of elections officers also advised:
• Writing only the candidate’s last name will count as a vote if no other candidate has the same last name.
• Minor misspellings of a candidate’s last name will count if the intended candidate can be determined.
• If a voter writes in any other name along with the candidate’s last name, the other name has to match one of the variations of the candidate’s name listed on the declaration of intent form.
Lafferty chose four variations: Doc Lafferty, Dr. Lafferty, Lon Lafferty and Dr. Lon Lafferty. Kerr has nine: Jimmy Don Kerr, Jimmy D. Kerr, Jimmy Kerr, J. Kerr, JD Kerr, Jimmie Don Kerr, Jimmie D. Kerr, Jimmie Kerr and Jimmy Dawn Kerr. Slone has nine: Marlena Slone, Marlene Slone, Marlina Slone, M Slone, Marlena Sloan, Marlena Sloane, Marty Slone, Mar Slone and Marti Slone. York has six: Ben York, Benjamin York, B. York, Ben V. York, Benjamin V. York and BV York.
Harmon chose three variations in the sheriff’s race: Millard E. Harmon, Mid Harmon and M. Harmon.
Skyles was initially advised that a list of write-in candidates could be posted at the polling place.
“That is not legal,” she corrected. “We will not have a list of write-in candidates posted at each polling center.”
Poll workers will have a list, but to see the list, Skyles said voters must specifically ask, “Is there a write-in candidate?”
Mail ballots will not include a list of write-in candidates.
Skyles expressed regret that some paper ballots were mailed out before Kirk withdrew from the election.
“We don’t get a do-over,” conceded the clerk. “If someone says, ‘I forgot the write-in,’ I hate it, but there is no do-over.”
Ayers noted that voter education is of the utmost importance.
“Hopefully, we’ll be successful with that in the next couple of weeks in the newspaper and things on Facebook,” he said, adding that he did not know of any county having only write-in candidates in the judge/executive race. “It’s certainly unprecedented for our county.”
Skyles and Ayers expect tabulating the write-in votes could make for a late night on Election Day.
Ayers revealed that Martin County votes get “triple-checked.”
“We don’t want to be the county that makes the front page of whatever newspaper, Lexington Herald or Courier-Journal, ‘They reported their votes wrong,’” he said.
“I can promise you it will be a late night. I also promise you it will be accurate.”
Elections administration
Ayers talked about the administration of elections in Kentucky, saying the Secretary of State oversees elections and is the State Board of Elections chairperson.
The State Board of Elections appoints a Democrat and Republican commissioner from each of the 120 counties to serve on the county boards of elections. Those two appointments, along with the county clerk and sheriff, constitute a four-person board.
During years when the sheriff is on the ballot for the election, he cannot serve on the board and must appoint someone to serve in his place. Martin County Sheriff John Kirk appointed his wife, Regina Kirk.
On Election Day, Skyles, Ayers, Regina Kirk and Nancy Fitzpatrick will count votes in Martin County. They will be in session the entire day to answer questions and solve issues that may arise.
“Typically, we’ll have half a dozen instances come up – ‘Is this person eligible to vote?’ or ‘Should they be voting in the city limits?’” relayed Ayers. “The big issue this year will be making sure all the votes are counted.”
Ayers said the vote counting on Election Day would not be the end of the story. About two weeks later, Skyles will take all machine tapes to the grand jury for review and confirm that the board of elections did its job correctly.