Regarding in-person voting, Griggs said, "We never had a lot of people standing in line, it was more of a steady flow through the day."
She said they currently have ten voting stations and two scanners set up, and on June 23 they will have between 75-100 voting stations throughout the courthouse.
West Kentucky Star has heard of callers who were unable to speak to someone at the clerk's office, and other times when they couldn't leave voicemail messages. In response to these complaints, Griggs said her phones lines have been, "overwhelmed," by the volume of calls.
She believes voters have just recently received postcards about absentee ballots that were supposed to be sent to all Kentucky voters by May 22. Some people who call need clarification about the process, while others are trying to get their ballot requests made before the June 16 deadline.
Griggs said there have been times when her staff has been on the phone while others are calling and leaving messages, and the voicemail box gets full.
She said, "We have been swamped with phone calls about it. As soon as we try to listen to all the messages and write down names and phone numbers of who we need to call back, people are still calling and leaving messages so we can't keep it cleared off."
Griggs said the issue is not the number of phone lines, it's more an issue of staffing, and she has every available employee working the phones. In fact, she hired extra workers with state funding that was provided when officials knew the primary would be affected by the pandemic.
On Tuesday, Griggs spoke to the county's phone system contractor about their issues and she hopes some changes will enable them to better handle the number of calls.
She said her communication with other county clerks indicates they are experiencing the same issues.
Griggs said, "I've seen lots of emails from other clerks. We're all experiencing the same kind of problems - overwhelmed with phone calls and processing mail-in ballots. It's all the same problems in just about every office."
She received a call Tuesday from the Secretary of State's office, telling her if they need more money to hire more people, it can be provided.
She added, "I don't want people to think we're down here and not answering the phone and not getting these messages, because we are returning every phone call. It's just overwhelming, that's the only word I can use to describe it."
IN-PERSON VOTING:
Through June 22, voters can come to the County Clerk's office on Monday through Saturday to vote between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. No appointment is necessary.
On Election Day, June 23, most offices in the courthouse will be closed to focus on the election, and multiple voting stations will be available between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm. There could be as many as 100 voting stations on multiple floors in the building. Anyone who chooses to vote in this way should remember that local precincts will be closed, and if they come to the courthouse, there could be long lines.
ABSENTEE VOTING:
To avoid potential lines for in-person voting, Griggs suggests using GoVoteKY.com to request a ballot by June 15. The ballot will be mailed to the voter's home. Once completed, the ballot can be mailed back and must be postmarked June 23 or before. A locked drop box is available in the courthouse lobby for those who don't want to mail their ballot.
The state board of elections is requiring all county clerks to report their vote totals by 6:00 pm on June 27.
On the Net:
GoVoteKY.com website
