In an email link sent to West Kentucky Star and a Tuesday afternoon Facebook post with a video that has since been deleted, DuJuan Thomas posted, "Check your ballots! My grandmother was cheated out of her right to vote in the Kentucky primary election due to negligence by McCracken County Courthouse staff in Paducah. She was given the wrong person's ballot and it was too late until she realized the mistake they made."
Thomas claimed courthouse workers would not allow her come back and vote under her correct name to fix the problem, and wondered how many others may have encountered similar situations.
When contacted about the issue, County Clerk Julie Griggs said she was unaware of the situation and had not been told by any of her staff about any problems. She asked this reporter to reach out to Thomas so they could speak directly to each other.
Later, Thomas and Griggs both indicated they had spoken and that nothing could be done at this point. Griggs explained that when a voter comes in and is identified, the system will indicate which ballot a person should get based on their voting precinct and political party affiliation.
In this specific case, Griggs said, "We scan the person's driver's license when they come in, so it's not going to come up under another Mary Thomas, only her."
As for a claim that the woman couldn't vote in a specific race, Griggs indicated that the only possible way that could happen is if the poll worker gave the wrong ballot. But the voter has the final say in that process.
Griggs said, "If she had a question about it, she should have asked somebody before she ran it through the scanner."
Thomas said his grandmother got confused about the process and didn't say anything until it was too late.
Printed ballots are designed to not include any personal voter information, so at this point, it would be impossible to trace back to her.
Griggs stressed that voters are ultimately responsible for making sure the ballot they receive from an election worker is the one they should have, based on their precinct and political party. Until the ballot is scanned, any errors can be corrected.
Thomas is a write-in candidate in the Paducah Mayoral race, which is a non-partisan election. Every voter in the city limits may vote for mayor and city commission.
A sample ballot for McCracken County can be seen at the link below.
Thomas' complete Facebook post said, "Check your ballots! My grandmother was cheated out of her right to vote in the Kentucky primary election due to negligence by McCracken County Courthouse staff in Paducah. She was given the wrong person's ballot and it was too late until she realized the mistake they made. Instead of allowing her to come back and vote under her legal ballot they told her there is nothing they could do. So, will the other Mary E vote under her ballot? Now you have two people who have lost the right to vote. This needs to be fixed and everyone needs to be made aware, especially in the older population who may not be familiar with all this early and mail-in voting. This is unprofessional, especially with this being courthouse workers and not volunteers. How many other people has this happened to?"
On the Net:
McCracken County Sample Ballot at sos.ky.gov
