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Kentucky · Snapshot 09/05/2026

KRS 118.305: Persons entitled to have name on ballot -- Certification of names of

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. KRS Chapter 118

candidates -- Eligibility of candidates defeated in primary -- Notification of

vacancy in elective office -- Ineligibility of Senior Status Special Judge.

(1) Except as prov ided in KRS 118.345, and subject to the provisions of subsections

(2), (3), and (4) of this section, the county clerk of each county shall cause to be

printed on all ballots, including the absentee ballots, for the regular election the

names of the following persons:

(a) Candidates of a political party, as defined in KRS 118.015, who have received

certificates of nomination at the preceding primary, or certificates of

nomination under KRS 118.185, and whose certificates of nomination have

been filed with the Secretary of State or the appropriate county clerk;

(b) Candidates of a political party, as defined in KRS 118.015, who have been

nominated for an unexpired term in a manner determined by the governing

authority of the party, as provided in KRS 118.115, and whose evidences of

nomination have been filed with the Secretary of State or the appropriate

county clerk within the time prescribed in this chapter;

(c) Candidates of a political party, as defined in KRS 118.015, who have been

nominated by the governi ng authority of the party to fill a vacancy in the

candidacy of a person nominated at the preceding primary, as provided in

KRS 118.105, and whose certificates of nomination have been filed with the

Secretary of State or the appropriate county clerk, by at least the date provided

by the election law generally for such filing;

(d) Candidates who have been nominated by a political organization as provided

in KRS 118.325 and whose certificates or petitions of nomination have been

filed with the Secretary of St ate or the appropriate county clerk within the

time prescribed in this chapter;

(e) Independent candidates who have been nominated by petition as provided in

KRS 118.315, and whose petitions of nomination have been filed with the

Secretary of State or the appropriate county clerk within the time prescribed in

this chapter;

(f) Successful nominees of all nonpartisan primaries which shall have been

conducted;

(g) Candidates who have filed a petition of candidacy as shall be required to fill a

vacancy which shall appear on the ballot;

(h) The county clerk shall determine whether the name of any replacement

candidate who has been nominated as provided in KRS 118.105(5) may be

placed on the ballot and whether any voting equipment may be reprogrammed

to count the votes cast for that candidate, or whether the ballot must be

reprinted to accommodate votes cast for any replacement candidate, and shall

take the appropriate action to accommodate the replacement of any candidate.

If the county clerk determines that the n ame of any replacement candidate

cannot be accommodated on the existing ballot and if there is insufficient time

before the election to reprint the entire ballot, the county clerk shall request

approval to use supplemental paper ballots for voting for that office only in

the same manner as permitted for other situations in KRS 118.215(5), and, if

approved, shall have an adequate number of supplemental paper ballots

printed for voting for that office and only votes cast for that office by means

of the supple mental paper ballots shall be tabulated and recorded by the

precinct election officers and county board of elections. All actions by a

county clerk, the State Board of Elections, and the Secretary of State which

are necessary to provide for voting at a reg ular election for candidates

nominated pursuant to KRS 118.105(5) shall be carried out with all possible

speed. When a candidate has been replaced as provided in KRS 118.105(5)

after absentee and federal provisional absentee ballots have been printed and

distributed for the regular election, neither the precinct election officers nor

the county board of elections shall tabulate or record any absentee or federal

provisional absentee votes cast for the candidate who was replaced. If ballots

are reprinted or supplemental paper ballots are printed, or if voting equipment

must be reprogrammed to count the votes cast for a replacement candidate, the

costs for the printing and reprogramming shall be paid by the political party

who has nominated a replacement candid ate, or proportionately by each

political party if each party nominates a replacement candidate;

(i) Candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, of those

political parties and organizations who have nominated presidential electors as

provided in KRS 118.325, if the certificate of nomination of the electors has

been filed with the Secretary of State within the time prescribed in this

chapter;

(j) Candidates for soil and water district supervisors who have been nominated

by petition as provided in KRS 262.210; and

(k) Candidates for city office for which no nonpartisan primary has been

conducted in a city which requires nonpartisan city elections.

(2) Any candidate for city office who is defeated in a partisan or nonpartisan primary

shall be ineligible as a candidate for the same office in the regular election.

(3) Candidates for members of boards of education shall have their names printed on

ballots, including absentee ballots, for the regular election only after filing as

provided in KRS 160.220.

(4) Except a s provided in KRS 118.105 and 118.115, no candidate's name shall be

printed upon any ballots, including federal provisional ballots, federal provisional

absentee ballots, and absentee ballots for any regular election as the nominee of any

political party, as defined in KRS 118.015, or under the emblem of any political

party, as so defined, except those candidates who have been duly and regularly

nominated as nominees of that party at a primary held as provided in this chapter.

(5) No county clerk shall know ingly cause to be printed, upon the ballots, federal

provisional ballots, federal provisional absentee ballots, or absentee ballots for any

regular election, the name of any candidate of a political party, as defined in KRS

118.015, who has not been nominated in the manner provided in the laws governing

primaries or the name of any candidate who is not in compliance with the

restrictions concerning party registration and candidacy provided in of KRS

118.315(1).

(6) The names of candidates for President and Vice President shall be certified in lieu

of certifying the names of the candidates for presidential electors.

(7) When a vacancy occurs in an elective office which is required by law to be filled

temporarily by appointment, the officer or body designated by law to make the

appointment, or in the case of an office to be filled by appointment from a list of

nominations, the officer or body designated by law to make the nominations, shall

immediately notify in writing both the county clerk and Secretary of St ate of the

vacancy.

(8) A judge who elected to retire as a Senior Status Special Judge in accordance with

KRS 21.580 shall not become a candidate or a nominee for any elected office

during the five (5) year term prescribed in KRS 21.580(1)(a)1., regardless of the

number of days served by the judge acting as a Senior Status Special Judge.

Collected 2026-09-05T20:50:15Z. Source file · JSON

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