83A.045 Laws governing partisan and nonpartisan elections.
1,120 words·~5 min read·
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(1)Except as provided in KRS 83A.047, partisan elections of city officers shall be
governed by the following provisions, regardless of the form of government or
classification of the city:
(a)A candidate for party nomination to city office shall file his or her nomination
papers with the county clerk of the county not earlier than the first Wednesday
after the first Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which
the office will appear on the ballot and not later than the first Friday following
the first Monday in January before the day fixed by KRS Chapter 118 for
holding a primary for the office sought. Signatures for nomination papers
shall not be affixed on the document to be filed prior to the first Wednesday
after the first Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which
the office will appear on the ballot. All nomination papers shall be filed no
later than 4 p.m. local time when filed on the last day on which the papers are
permitted to be filed;
(b)An independent candidate for nomination to city office shall not participate in
a primary, but shall file his or her nomination papers with the county clerk of
the county not earlier than the first Wednesday after the first Monday in
November of the year preceding the year in which the office will appear on
the ballot and not later than the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June
before the day fixed by KRS Chapter 118 for holding a regular election for the
office. Signatures for nomination papers shall not be affixed on the document
to be filed prior to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November of
the year preceding the year in which the office will appear on the ballot. All
nomination papers shall be filed no later than 4 p.m. local time when filed on
the last day on which the papers are permitted to be filed; and
(c)A candidate for city office who is defeated in a partisan primary shall be
ineligible as a candidate for the same office in the regular election. However,
if a vacancy occurs in the party nomination for which he or she was an
unsuccessful candidate in the primary, his or her name may be placed on the
ballot for the regular election as a candidate of that party if he or she has been
duly made the party nominee after the vacancy occurs, as provided in KRS
118.105.
(2)Except as provided in KRS 83A.047, nonpartisan elections of city officers shall be
governed by KRS 83A.050, 83A.170, 83A.175, and the following provisions,
regardless of the form of government or classification of the city:
(a)A candidate for city office shall file his or her nomination papers with the
county clerk of the county not earlier than the first Wednesday after the first
Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which the office will
appear on the ballot and not later than the first Friday following the first
Monday in January before the day fixed by KRS Chapter 118 for holding a
primary for nominations for the office. Signatures for nomination papers shall
not be affixed on the document to be filed prior to the first Wednesday after
the first Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which the
office will appear on the ballot. All nomination papers shall be filed no later
than 4 p.m. local time when filed on the last day on which the papers are
permitted to be filed;
(b)Any city of the home rule class may by ordinance provide that the nomination
and election of candidates for city office in a nonpartisan election shall be
conducted pursuant to the provisions of this subsection:
1. A city may forgo conducting a nonpartisan primary for the nomination
of candidates to city office, regardless of the number of candidates
running for each office, and require all candidates to file their
nomination papers with the county clerk of the county not earlier than
the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November of the year
preceding the year in which the office will appear on the ballot and not
later than the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June before the day
fixed by KRS Chapter 118 for holding a regular election for the office.
Signatures for nomination papers shall not be affixed on the document
to be filed prior to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in
November of the year preceding the year in which the office will appear
on the ballot;
2. All nomination papers shall be filed no later than 4 p.m. local time when
filed on the last day on which the papers are permitted to be filed;
3. If a city does not conduct a primary pursuant to this subsection, the
election of candidates to city office shall be governed by the provisions
of this subsection, KRS 83A.175(2) to (6), and KRS Chapters 116 to
121;
4. In the absence of a primary pursuant to this subsection, the number of
candidates equal to the number of city offices to be filled who receive
the highest number of votes cast in the regular election for each city
office shall be elected;
5. Candidates shall be subject to all other applicable election laws pursuant
to this chapter and KRS Chapters 116 to 121;
6. If a vacancy occurs in a candidacy for city office in any city which has
not held a primary pursuant to this subsection after the expiration of
time for filing nomination papers, or if there are fewer candidates than
there are offices to be filled, the vacancy in candidacy shall be filled by
write-in voting; and
7. At the regular election, the voters shall be instructed to vote for one
candidate, except when there is more than one
(1)candidate for which
voters may vote, the instruction "vote for up to .... candidates" shall be
used on the ballot; and
(c)A candidate for city office who is defeated in a nonpartisan primary shall be
ineligible as a candidate for the same office in the regular election.
(3)Any city enacting an ordinance eliminating the nonpartisan primary as authorized
by subsection (2)(b) of this section or enacting an ordinance that repeals a
previously enacted ordinance that eliminated the nonpartisan primary authorized by
subsection (2)(b) of this section shall file the ordinance with the county clerk of the county or counties in which the city is located no later than the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which city elections are held.