In Jefferson County, the clerk designates nursing homes as absentee voting locations. A bipartisan committee takes a ballot box to the homes prior to election day and personally hands out paper absentee ballots to the residents. They vote and put their ballots in a locked box, which is taken back to the clerk's office. The state board told Jackson that it does not approve of any absentee voting location that requires the transportation of a ballot box. Absentee ballots generally are mailed to nursing home residents upon request.
Voters mail the marked ballots back to the county clerk's office.
Jackson, a Republican who is running for Jefferson County judge-executive this year, said Jefferson County used to mail ballots to nursing homes. She said it's possible that the county board might ask federal courts for help. Copies of the letter to Jackson have been sent to all county clerks in Kentucky, said Sarah Ball, assistant director of the state board. She did not know how widespread the practice is in Kentucky. The Fayette County Clerk's Office does not use nursing homes as absentee voting locations, said an employee in the voter registration division.