The City of Union has officially recognized the Boone County Board of Elections’ reorganization of countywide voting precincts in an effort to minimize future ballot confusion in the wake of the 2024 election.
On Monday, the Union City Commission acknowledged the board of elections’ reorganization of the county’s voting precincts, eight of which have ties to Union. In essence, the new precincts are designed to better separate Union residents from unincorporated Boone County residents to prevent future ballot mixups.
The new precinct assignments are as follows:
- Precincts 2 and 5: Exclusively for City of Union residents.
- Precincts 1 and 3: Mixed precincts for City of Union and unincorporated Boone County voters.
- Precincts 4, 6, 7 and 8: Exclusively for unincorporated Boone County residents.
“The City of Union resolution requested that the Boone County Board of Elections merge and reorganize precincts to establish distinct and separate voting locations for City of Union residents,” Mayor Larry Solomon said during the commission meeting. “Since that time, the city has been working with the Boone County Clerk’s Office to make these changes.”
Boone County Clerk Justin Crigler, who is also a member of the county board of elections, told LINK nky that the board’s goal was to reduce confusion and simplify ballot management for voters and poll workers. The board of elections carried out similar cleanup efforts throughout Boone County, not only in Union.
Crigler said that all decisions regarding precinct boundaries and polling locations are made by the board of elections, not the clerk’s office alone.
Print-on-demand ballot printers will be introduced starting in the 2026 primary and general elections to ensure that each voter receives the correct ballot type automatically.
“These procedural changes, the City of Union can feel assured that when residents vote the next time, they will be getting the right ballot and their vote will count,” Solomon said.
During the November 2024 election, LINK nky reported that many Union residents mistakenly received incorrect ballots. Specifically, some residents in unincorporated Boone County received ballots intended solely for Union residents.
Conversely, some Union residents received ballots intended for unincorporated Boone County residents, preventing them from voting in city-specific elections such as for city commissioners or the cannabis ballot initiative. This also caused several unincorporated Boone County residents to improperly cast votes in the Union commission election.
The ballot mishap took place in Union precincts 1 and 4, which were “combination precincts” where residents from both Union and unincorporated Boone County could vote. From 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 5, several residents were handed incorrect ballots, which they subsequently voted on.
Days after the election, Crigler filed a petition in the county’s circuit court regarding voting irregularities at both precincts.
On Dec. 4, Commissioner Doug Bine, who had lost a reelection bid for the Union commission, sued the Boone County clerk, arguing the election was “botched.” Following a legal back-and-forth that lasted throughout December and January, Boone County Circuit Court Judge Richard Brueggemann ruled that a mix-up resulted in roughly 800 miscast votes due to human error.
As such, the court decided that the results of the Union commission election should be invalidated. Under state law, vacancies were required to be filled by Solomon. In February, Solomon appointed the new commission, which included Bine.
Before the new commission was appointed, the City of Union asked the Boone County Board of Elections to redraw precincts so that only Union residents could vote inside city polling places in an attempt to nix confusion over mixed precincts.
This story includes reporting from LINK nky’s Nathan Granger.
