{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-118.129","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 118.129","heading":"Spelling and form of names on ballot.","body":"(1) The Secretary of State or the county clerk, as appropriate, shall certify the exact\nspelling and form of the name of the candidate to be printed on all ballots in\naccordance with the requirements listed in this section.\n(2) A candidate's nickname which is found to be, in the discretion of the Secretary of\nState or the county clerk, as appropriate, a title, rank, degree, job description, or\nspurious phrase shall be placed on the ballot only if it is the candidate's bona fide\nnickname, generally used by acqua intances of the candidate in the county of\nresidence to refer to the candidate, and if the nickname is acknowledged, by\naffidavit, under oath, by five (5) residents of the county in which the candidate\nresides, to be a bona fide nickname. The candidate sha ll also acknowledge, by\naffidavit under oath, that this is his or her bona fide nickname and is not being used\nto gain an advantage on the ballot.\n(3) A nickname shall always appear set off in quotation marks and immediately before\nthe last name. Periods shall follow all abbreviations or initials. Additional qualifiers\nfollowing the last name, such as \"Jr\" or \"III\" shall not be separated from the last\nname by a comma and shall be followed by a period.\n(4) The candidate's name shall always appear in the foll owing form: first or given\nname, contraction of given name, or initial; middle name or names or initials, if\ndesired by the candidate; nickname if desired by the candidate; and last or surname\nin full. All names shall be in substantially the following form : John Lincoln \"Jack\"\nDoe; or J. Lincoln \"Jack\" Doe; or J. L. \"Jack\" Doe Jr.; or any of the above\ncombinations without the intervening nickname.\n(5) The total number of spaces, inclusive of letters, spaces, and punctuation, which may\nbe utilized on the bal lot for a candidate's name and, if any, nickname, shall be\ntwenty-five (25). Notwithstanding the listing of the candidate's name on the filing\npapers, spaces, periods, quotation marks, and commas necessary for proper\npunctuation shall be added by the Secre tary of State or the county clerk, as\nappropriate. No candidate's name shall exceed twenty -five (25) spaces. The\nSecretary of State or the county clerk, as appropriate, shall determine the correct\nlisting for any candidate whose name exceeds twenty-five (25) spaces to conform to\nthis requirement.","path":["KRS Chapter 118"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57001","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:15Z","sha256":"cefa2d1d3a8ee83302b60c67a354c444a138189d616de09eac13dc6fd36bc1f6","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-118.127","next":"us-ky/krs-118.130"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}