Attorney General Jack Conway has announced that six Kentucky counties, including Clinton, were chosen in a random drawing last Thursday, May 31, to undergo independent inquiries for any potential irregularities that may have occurred during the primary election on Tuesday, May 22.

The other five counties selected in the random drawing last week were Morgan, Meade, Marion, Rowan, and Mason.

“These audits supplement the work our investigators and prosecutors did on the ground leading up to the primary election, and the process, as defined by Kentucky law, will ensure that voters in every corner of the Commonwealth encounter procedures at polling places that are fair and equitable,” General Conway said.

The post-election audits, which are required by law (KRS 15.243), will be conducted by the Office of the Attorney General. Pursuant to KRS 15.243(3)(a), the Kentucky Attorney General is required to conduct a post-election audit investigation in no fewer than five percent of Kentucky’s counties following each primary and general election. The counties are selected in a public drawing that must be done within 20 days after the election.

In each county, these routine inquiries will include checking election forms and interviewing county officials. The selection of these counties does not imply that irregularities are suspected. Casey, Breathitt, Todd, Daviess, Livingston and Garrard counties were exempt from being chosen in the drawing last week because they were audited after the general election in November 2011. The November audits did not find any irregularities that were forwarded to local prosecutors.

In addition to the post-election audits investigations, follow-up investigations are continuing regarding complaints to the Election Fraud Hotline, which received 31 calls generating 32 complaints from 14 counties between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the primary election on May 22. Specifics of those calls cannot be released until review is complete. There were two allegations of vote-buying in Magoffin County.

On Election Day, investigators from the Office of the Attorney General monitored polling places in each of Kentucky’s six congressional districts and attorneys from the office processed the complaints from the hotline that required additional investigation.