Three counties, 36 cities, 13 school districts, over 400 candidates (not including the state and federal candidates)… who can keep track of all that?
Unless you are intimately familiar with every facet of governance in the region, it’s likely you’ll need some kind of tool to help you decide who to vote for on Election Day, like your phone, a handwritten list, a blank ballot (perhaps appearing in a recent voter guide from your friendly local news organization) or some other kind of reference.
But are you allowed to bring these things into your polling place?
Short answer: Yes. Long answer: It’s allowed, as long as you’re not using any of those tools to pilfer voter information or influence people’s votes.
“We will allow cell phone usage as long as they don’t take pictures of other voters or people next to them,” said Boone County Clerk Justin Crigler. “We will allow them if they have a list on their phone, or they need to research, say, the constitutional amendment. We will allow for that.”
Much of the administration of elections in Kentucky falls to county clerks and their teams. As Crigler pointed out, much of the state law governing what you can and can’t bring into the polling booth is about protecting voter privacy.
“They’re only allowed to use a phone to take a ballot selfie,” said Campbell County Clerk Jim Leursen. “You’re not allowed to film anybody else or take a picture of anybody else in there.”
“We’ve had people violate people’s privacy of their vote by taking pictures in the facility,” said Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe. “But they’re allowed to use it while they’re voting. So, if they have a list on their phone, they could use that.”
Handwritten lists, blank publication ballots and lists of endorsed candidates provided by campaigners and political parties are also allowed.
In spite of this, there are some regulations in place that prohibit the use of lists and electronic devices for what’s called a “check-off list,” according to state law.
A check-off list is a list of voter information aimed at monitoring and checking off who’s come in to vote (and who hasn’t). Making one is considered a criminal offense. Leursen described it as a form of “voter intimidation,” as it would require someone to post up at a polling place and snoop around for people’s information.
There is an exception to this rule, however. Political parties can recruit someone called a challenger to create a checkoff list, monitor polling places and track people who come in and out to vote. It’s sometimes an all-day job, and registered challengers must follow legal registration and training requirements.
“They can check off and see who’s voted, who hasn’t,” said Leursen. “A challenger is allowed to do that, but they have to be a registered challenger.”
“A challenger really never stops anybody from voting…,” said Summe. “There’s specific reasons why they could challenge somebody, but that challenger never stops the person from voting.”
Instead, information collected by challengers indicating crime or fraud can be sent to a grand jury and the state board of elections for further investigation. But registered challengers must be affiliated with one of the major parties and must operate above board with the local board of elections. They can’t act on their own.
And anyway, most of the conventional poll workers are performing the role of a challenger just by doing their normal duties, Summe said.
“I always tell my poll workers, ‘you’re challengers,'” said Summe. “They’re there to make sure a qualified voter is getting their proper ballot.”
There are no registered challengers in any of the three counties for the general election this year, according to the clerks.
“For a voter to come in for five minutes with their cell phone, they’re not going to have a checkoff list because they’re only going to be there for five minutes,” Leursen said. “They’re not sitting there next to where the clerk is checking in voters.”
Making sure that voter information remains private not only shields against things like identity theft and voter harassment but it also curtails practices like vote buying.
“Vote buying is like if somebody says, ‘if you vote for me, I’ll give you $5,'” Crigler said. “Clearly illegal.”
In short, feel free to take your phone or a list of candidates into the polling booth on Election Day, as long as you’re only using it for your own research purposes, and you’re not incurring on other voters’ privacy or creating checkoff lists.
Be sure to check out LINK nky’s Election HQ to learn about all of the contested races in the region, learn about candidates’ backgrounds, find printable sample ballots and keep up with all of the election news in the region. Feel free to use it when you’re voting.
