Local Board of Elections Meets
Plan for County voting centers approved; County officers will be on 2022 ballot
By Eugenia Jones
Members of the McCreary County Board of Elections met Wednesday morning at the County Court Clerk’s Office to begin planning for the 2022 election cycle. During the meeting, Election Board members voted to approve a plan transitioning local voting in 2022 away from the current eighteen voting precincts to six county-wide voting centers where any voter in the county can vote regardless of where they live in the county. The move will result in significant savings by allowing the county to purchase all new voting equipment with handicapped accessibility for six centers (approximately $100,000) versus eighteen precincts (approximately $297,000.) Officials recommend replacing election equipment every ten years. The County’s current equipment is twelve years old. County Court Clerk Eric Haynes has also applied for state funding to help offset the cost of purchasing new equipment.
Haynes noted McCreary County voters will be able to choose any one of the six voting centers to cast their vote. However, he emphasized voting at two centers is not allowed.
“There are several checks and balances in place to ensure voters do not vote at more than one place,” Haynes stated.
Local authorities must now wait for state officials to approve the plan.
Haynes noted the official window for filing as a candidate for the 2022 election begins November 3, 2021 and ends at 4:00 p.m. on January 7, 2022. Write-ins candidates have until October 28, 2022.
A Kentucky U.S. Senate seat (Senator Rand Paul’s) as well as the 5th District U.S. House of Representatives seat (U.S. Congressman Hal Roger’s) will be on the 2022 ballot. Additionally, McCreary County’s State House and Senate seats will be filled. Judicial seats on the ballots include: Judge of the Court of Appeals, Circuit Judge, and District Judge. Locally, County Officers (including Judge Executive, Magistrates, County Court Clerk, County Attorney, Jailer, Coroner, Surveyor, P.V.A., Constables, and Sheriff) will be up for a vote. Voters will also choose school board members in several of the school board districts.
