KRS 118.129: Spelling and form of names on ballot.

(1) The Secretary of State or the county clerk, as appropriate, shall certify the exact

spelling and form of the name of the candidate to be printed on all ballots in

accordance with the requirements listed in this section.

(2) A candidate's nickname which is found to be, in the discretion of the Secretary of

State or the county clerk, as appropriate, a title, rank, degree, job description, or

spurious phrase shall be placed on the ballot only if it is the candidate's bona fide

nickname, generally used by acqua intances of the candidate in the county of

residence to refer to the candidate, and if the nickname is acknowledged, by

affidavit, under oath, by five (5) residents of the county in which the candidate

resides, to be a bona fide nickname. The candidate sha ll also acknowledge, by

affidavit under oath, that this is his or her bona fide nickname and is not being used

to gain an advantage on the ballot.

(3) A nickname shall always appear set off in quotation marks and immediately before

the last name. Periods shall follow all abbreviations or initials. Additional qualifiers

following the last name, such as "Jr" or "III" shall not be separated from the last

name by a comma and shall be followed by a period.

(4) The candidate's name shall always appear in the foll owing form: first or given

name, contraction of given name, or initial; middle name or names or initials, if

desired by the candidate; nickname if desired by the candidate; and last or surname

in full. All names shall be in substantially the following form : John Lincoln "Jack"

Doe; or J. Lincoln "Jack" Doe; or J. L. "Jack" Doe Jr.; or any of the above

combinations without the intervening nickname.

(5) The total number of spaces, inclusive of letters, spaces, and punctuation, which may

be utilized on the bal lot for a candidate's name and, if any, nickname, shall be

twenty-five (25). Notwithstanding the listing of the candidate's name on the filing

papers, spaces, periods, quotation marks, and commas necessary for proper

punctuation shall be added by the Secre tary of State or the county clerk, as

appropriate. No candidate's name shall exceed twenty -five (25) spaces. The

Secretary of State or the county clerk, as appropriate, shall determine the correct

listing for any candidate whose name exceeds twenty-five (25) spaces to conform to

this requirement.