A Kentucky city faces uncertainty after election errors left leadership in question
Union: So, picture this. You go to vote, but the ballot you get is totally wrong. That’s what happened in Union, Kentucky, and it’s a mess.
On Election Day, some voters got ballots meant for other precincts. This mistake could change who’s running the city, and it’s been two months with no fix in sight.
In Union, a small city of about 7,600, two polling places handed out the wrong ballots. This was a big deal because the local council race and a medical marijuana issue were decided by just a few votes.
Now, everything’s tied up in court, and no one knows who should be on the city council. Everyone agrees mistakes were made, but finding a solution is proving tough.
Election Day blunders happen more often than you’d think. Kentucky’s Secretary of State, Michael Adams, says it’s pretty common, but what happened in Union is rare because it might have changed the election results.
His office can’t step in, though. They only handle state and federal races, leaving local issues to the county clerk. So, it’s a bit of a dead end.
As for fixing this? It’s up to the courts now. They’ll decide if the wrong ballots made a difference. If they did, a judge could throw out the results or call for a new election.
But special elections can be tricky. They often have low turnout and cost a lot, so sometimes the best lesson is just to learn from the mistake.
The poll workers in Union did report the error right away, but more training and better equipment could help prevent this in the future. Imagine if ballots were printed on demand based on voter ID. That could really cut down on these kinds of errors.
Union’s city government is run by a board and a separately elected mayor. In the recent election, five candidates ran for commission, and voters cast over 9,000 votes.
But with the wrong ballots, between 243 and 500 voters might have been affected. The results were close, and now there’s a legal battle over who should be in charge.
One candidate, Douglas Bine, lost by just 65 votes and is arguing that the election results can’t be trusted. He’s trying to stop the new commissioners from taking office.
In court, the Boone County Clerk wants the judge to dismiss Bine’s challenge, but the judge hasn’t made a decision yet. The next court date is coming up soon, so we’ll see what happens.
