BY ANNIE HOLLER
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

Some Martin County voters say they were turned away from polling places Tuesday after presenting driver’s licenses with addresses in Pike or Lawrence counties.

The issue affects some county residents who live near county lines but receive mail through post offices in neighboring counties. That includes residents on Route 292/Riverfront Road above mile marker 9 who receive mail through the Belfry post office in Pike County, as well as residents near the Lawrence County line who receive mail through the Louisa post office in Lawrence County.

On Tuesday, Martin County Clerk Susie Skyles advised residents whose driver’s licenses list a neighboring county, even though they live in Martin County, to call her office at 606-298-2810 before going to their polling place or to come to the clerk’s office in person.

If a voter’s registration has been changed to another county, Skyles must manually correct the county of residence in the voter registration system.

“We have had reports of this happening today,” Skyles said. “I wish that people in this situation would have thought to contact me before today so we could have addressed this, but we will still do our best to fix the issue for any voters who call or come in today before the polls close at 6 p.m. At this point, that’s the extent of what we can do.”

Skyles urged anyone turned away at a polling place because of the issue to call her office before leaving so she could speak directly with a poll worker, verify the voter’s residence and correct the problem.

The issue has affected Martin County residents for years because some receive mail through post offices outside the county. Skyles said the problem has worsened since driver’s license renewals moved from the circuit clerk’s office in Inez to regional offices. In some cases, the county listed on a license is based on the ZIP code rather than the voter’s physical residence.

Once the election is certified, Skyles said voters can update their registration addresses in her office.