Election processes highlight Republican Women Lincoln Dinner

Nita Johnson, The Sentinel Echo, London, Ky.
·4 min read

May 1—The 2020 COVID pandemic changed the voting process across the country and Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown outlined the procedures for those attending the Laurel County Republican Women's Lincoln Dinner last week.

Brown threw a few opening barbs at the Democrat Party.

"I could say how that party has destroyed the American Dream with policies and laws, how they have created generations of citizens whose sole purpose is to live by taking full advantage of government programs from their first breath to their last one," he said. "You cannot help people by doing for them what they should be doing for themselves. We don't need the government to make us better. We can make ourselves better. That is the party that we represent."

He said he would rather focus on his area, which is elections, explaining how the recent changes have come about.

"In 2020, going into my second year, I felt pretty good about it. COVID-19 changed everything with elections. What did we like about 2020 elections? I didn't like the absentee ballots. Laurel County normally would have thousands of absentee ballots," he said.

Brown said the 2020 election — which was postponed until June rather than May in Kentucky — had 6,270 mailed out for the June primary. The November election had some less, but he pointed out that the origin of the absentee voting was geared to assist the elderly and handicapped. He then explained the process for absentee voting.

"You have to request it. We send it off. Every ballot sent out has a bar code. When they come back, they have a bar code. When we open it, that has a bar code on it with the signatures," he said. "The signatures have to be examined by two people — a Republican and a Democrat, to make sure it is a real person who requested it. Every Kentucky county has to do that."

Brown said on election day the absentee votes are counted and run through a tally machine. They contact the post office at 5 p.m. on election day to ensure that no more ballots are there.

Brown also advocated the paper ballots now used — a topic that had been mentioned prior to the 2020 pandemic.

"I told (Kentucky Secretary of State) Michael Adams when he ran in 2019 that I liked the paper ballots. With those we have a paper trail," Brown said. "It gives us something to fall back on."

Voting centers also evolved from the COVID fallout, but is another facet of the election process that Brown advocates. The early voting and voting centers allow the working population more opportunity to vote, rather than focus solely on the traditional "election day" voting.

"The thing is, you're voting the same exact way you're voting on Election Day. You have a counter there, you're showing your ID, you are getting your ballot, you go to the machine, you put your ballot in there, you get it back, you put it in the scanner [and] you're done. Guess what? You do that on Tuesday too. It's the same exact thing," he said.

He touted the checks-and-balance procedures of Kentucky's election system, which is ranked as one of the best in the nation due to that system.

Kentucky's 2024 Primary is set for May 21.

Brown also addressed issues within the Republican Party.

"We as a party need to listen, ponder and listen to each other's aspects and thoughts. If we can't unite as one party, why do we expect those who are new to voting and what it means. We are the party of conservatives and common sense. Let's keep that in focus. Let's make our party better and stronger because we have a generation coming up and all this talk is pulling them in another way," he said.

The annual event also honored two long-time dedicated Republican women into the Laurel County Republican Hall of Fame.

Kay Hensley is a London attorney who has served as President of the Laurel County Republican Women's Club and has heavily involved with the local and state Republican Party. She hails from a long time of strong Republicans and a graduate of University of Kentucky and has clerked for Hon. Gene Siler, Leslie County Fiscal Court, Court Administrator for former Laurel Circuit Judge Lewis Hopper, in Knox Circuit Court, an instructor at Eastern Kentucky University, as well as other local involvement.

Marian Sparkman Davis has served as Laurel County Property Valuation Administrator as well as a strong supporter of the Republican Party. Davis worked on the George H. Bush campaign and has attended several Republican Presidential inaugurations. She was appointed as Commissioner of Property Tax in Frankfort and promoted to Commissioner of Revenue under Gov. Ernie Fletcher and served as director of the state Republican Party. She remains active on several boards in the London community.