Madison County Clerk Kenny Barger shared with the group of about 40 people how elections have changed during his 16 years in the position. Those changes include more electronics in voting and allowing people to vote at any location in the county.
He also talked about the voting machines the county uses, describing them as “a 5-pound pencil” that marks ballots for people. Before becoming the county clerk, Barger worked in manufacturing and said some of his old thought processes overlapped with his current work.
“It's all process and workflow of what we do and following statutes, which means following run rules, and that just led into that process, thinking and making things more efficient and run better and have better customer service,” Barger said.
The floor was opened to questions from attendees which included topics like the possibility of automatic registration, various types of potential voter intimidation, election interference and poll worker safety. Barger answered each of the questions and tried to address concerns. After the meeting, he said he enjoyed getting the questions.
“Most people start to think about the election either the day before, or the morning of, when it crosses their mind that, ‘Today's election day, I should probably go vote,’” Barger said. “I don't ever get an opportunity to talk to a group that's this engaged and excited about learning more about the process.”
Barger said the people most impacting elections are not people on the street, but state legislators trying to pass election laws.
“All the laws in the state are made and changed by state legislators, so just because we have three days of early voting now doesn't mean we will always have three days of early voting,” Barger said. “We voted the same way previous to COVID that we did for over 100 years. It was based on an agrarian cycle, that's why it's May and November.”
Barger said county clerks in Kentucky recommend election bills each year to the state legislature to make tweaks and make them better as they continue to hold elections. He said some legislators work with the clerks on bills and some don’t.
After Barger spoke at the meeting, attendees shared what they learned from his answers and what they took away from the meeting.
The primary election is May 19.
