Jefferson County Clerk criticized for ‘lack of leadership’ during election

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The Chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Party is accusing the Jefferson County Clerk, a Republican, of a lack of leadership.

Party Chairman Logan Gatti blames Bobbie Holsclaw for the technical problems that caused long lines at some locations on election day.

“I think it is telling that you have the Attorney General and the Secretary of State being extremely critical of how the election went in Jefferson County,” Gatti said. “That is something we can all focus on and say yes, this was obviously a massive misstep.”

One week after the election, Holsclaw published an apology in the Courier Journal saying voting delays did not impact the election results. She apologized directly to people who were unable to vote because of the delays.

“The good news is,” Holsclaw said, “there were probably very few such people.”

“Is she trying to save face?” Gatti asked Friday. “Is she trying to minimize the impact that happened under her watch? Absolutely she is and I think that is completely unacceptable.”

Holsclaw is under scrutiny by state Republicans as well. The Attorney General’s election fraud hotline took 358 calls on Election Day. 45% of them came from Jefferson County voters.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Russell Coleman launched an audit of Jefferson County results.

“At the end of this professional, independent and fair inquiry,” Coleman said Wednesday, “it’s our hope that our confidence in our elections remains high among our fellow Kentuckians.”

Holsclaw declined WAVE’s request for an interview Friday. Her office released this statement:

“As previously stated, the JCCO regrets the problems on election morning this November.

The issues are well understood and will not happen again in future elections.

Clerk Holsclaw is now focused on working with the Attorney General on the routine statutory audit.”