23,000 Write-In Votes Require Manual Verification in Jefferson County

Jefferson County election officials are processing more than 23,000 write-in ballots across local races. The manual review is underway despite clear winners emerging in most contests. Only three candidates registered as approved write-in options, including mayoral candidate Jeff Yocum.

Kentucky law requires two election workers to verify the validity of every write-in vote. The process is designed to ensure that only pre-registered names are tallied. This step prevents unapproved candidates from entering the final count.

Clerk David Yates explained that candidates must list multiple spelling variations of their names on their registration paperwork. This requirement accounts for potential typos made by voters during the voting process. The system allows for minor errors while maintaining strict standards for validity.

Yates described the real-time verification process. "Beside me, we have someone who’s working it right now in real time. They’re going through, as they click over it, it lights up. They have to look and see if it’s any variation of that name," he said. "If they see anything that even looks like it, then they’ll look at that name and they’ll see if it’s one of the nine variations they put in place. If it is, it gets counted. If it’s not, then they have to move forward."

The office must certify the final results to the Secretary of State’s Office by Tuesday, Nov. 10. The team is working to complete the count before this statutory deadline. The manual review ensures that every write-in ballot is checked against the official registration list.