LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky’s primary election is less than a week away and in Fayette County voters will use a new type of voting machine. 

Purchased before the pandemic began but not used in the 2020 election, Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins Jr. said the machines, called the InterCivic and made by the Hart company, uses a paper ballot filled out by the voter, then scanned in to a scanner by the voter while still in the booth.

“There’s a special machine off to the side called a touch writer for accessibility by people that need that kind of assistance to vote,” Blevins said. “That machine allows you to record your vote electronically, and then press the button when you’re done. It spits out a paper ballot that has the way you’ve selected to vote and then you feed that into a scanner. Everybody ultimately votes on a piece of paper and feeds it into a scanner.”

Blevins said there are several reasons behind unveiling the new machines for the 2022 midterms. 

“It was definitely time for an upgrade,” he said. “Our former machines were getting to be 15 years old, and we were experiencing some normal hardware and mechanical issues. It was time in that regard.”

Blevins said the trend across the nation is using paper ballots and soon after Fayette County purchased its new machines, the Kentucky Board of Elections voted to mandate the use of only paper-based machines in the Commonwealth. 

“I think the public is a lot more comfortable knowing that at the end of the day, if anything goes wrong, we can still count by hand one ballot at a time if we have to. It’s sort of a comfort thing,” Blevins said. “I don’t think it’s any more or less secure than what we used to do. It’s just that it provides that level of comfort for the public.”

The new machines are also more user-friendly.

“Another thing I like about these new machines is I think it’s a lot easier for a voter,” Blevins said. “The machines we used to have in Fayette County had those little wheels and it confused some people — its user interface was kind of clunky. They were considered state-of-the-art when they were purchased in 2005 or 2006.” 

Another advantage with using the new machines benefits the voters and clerk’s offices around Kentucky: speed.

“We can get a ballot to a voter and several voters can vote simultaneously, whereas with the old electronic machines, you can only get one person per machine at a time,” Blevins said. “Now we can set up multiple voting booths and let people fill out their ballots very quickly.”

Early voting in Kentucky is May 12-14. Polls are open from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. on Election Day.

There are four ways to cast your vote in the upcoming Kentucky primary. Blevins said people who cannot vote in person due to age or health reasons can mail an absentee ballot or drop it off at their local county clerk’s office. People who may be out of town on Election Day and have already requested an absentee ballot can vote in-person absentee at the clerk’s office until May 12.

Early voting in Fayette County is at Kroger Field. People may enter on the Alumni Drive side, park in the Blue Lot and go to gate 11.

For all you need to know about next week’s election, go to the Spectrum News 1 Voter Guide either on our website or on our free news app