{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-118.315","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 118.315","heading":"Nomination for regular election by petition -- Form of petition --","body":"Examination of petition -- Ineligibility of Senior Status Special Judge.\n(1) A candidate for any office to be voted for at any regular election may be nominated\nby a petit ion of electors qualified to vote for him or her, complying with the\nprovisions of subsection (2) of this section. No person whose registration status is\nas a registered member of a political party shall be eligible to election as an\nindependent, or politi cal organization, or political group candidate, nor shall any\nperson be eligible to election as an independent, or political organization, or\npolitical group candidate whose registration status was as a registered member of a\npolitical party on January 1 i mmediately preceding the regular election for which\nthe person seeks to be a candidate. This restriction shall not apply to candidates to\nthose offices specified in KRS 118.105(6), for supervisor of a soil and water\nconservation district, for candidates fo r mayor or legislative body in cities of the\nhome rule class, or to candidates participating in nonpartisan elections.\n(2) The form of the petition shall be prescribed by the Secretary of State. It shall be\nsigned by the candidate and by registered voters from the district or jurisdiction\nfrom which the candidate seeks nomination. The petition shall include a\ndeclaration, sworn to by the candidate, that he or she possesses all the constitutional\nand statutory requirements of the office for which the candida te has filed.\nSignatures for a petition of nomination for a candidate seeking any office,\nexcluding President of the United States in accordance with KRS 118.591(1), shall\nnot be affixed on the document to be filed prior to the first Wednesday after the first\nMonday in November of the year preceding the year in which the office will appear\non the ballot. Signatures for nomination papers shall not be affixed on the document\nto be filed prior to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November of the\nyear preceding the year in which the office will appear on the ballot. A petition of\nnomination for a state officer, or any officer for whom all the electors of the state\nare entitled to vote, shall contain five thousand (5,000) petitioners; for a\nrepresentative in Congress from any congressional district, or for any officer from\nany other district except as herein provided, four hundred (400) petitioners; for a\ncounty officer, member of the General Assembly, or Commonwealth's attorney, one\nhundred (100) peti tioners; for a soil and water conservation district supervisor,\ntwenty-five (25) petitioners; for a city officer or board of education member, two\n(2) petitioners; and for an officer of a division less than a county, except as\nprovided in this subsection, twenty (20) petitioners. It shall not be necessary that the\nsignatures of the petition be appended to one (1) paper. Each petitioner shall include\nthe date he or she affixes the signature, address of residence, and date of birth.\nFailure of a voter to incl ude the signature affixation date, date of birth, and address\nof residence shall result in the signature not being counted. A petitioner for the\nnomination of a candidate may be counted for every petition to which his or her\nsignature is affixed.\n(3) Titles, ranks, or spurious phrases shall not be accepted on the filing papers and shall\nnot be printed on the ballots as part of the candidate's name; however, nicknames,\ninitials, and contractions of given names may be accepted as the candidate's name.\n(4) The Secretary of State and county clerks shall examine the petitions of all\ncandidates who file with them to determine whether each petition is regular on its\nface. If there is an error, the Secretary of State or the county clerk shall notify the\ncandidate by certified mail within twenty-four (24) hours of filing.\n(5) A judge who elected to retire as a Senior Status Special Judge in accordance with\nKRS 21.580 shall not become a candidate or a nominee for any elected office\nduring the five (5) year term prescri bed in KRS 21.580(1)(a)1., regardless of the\nnumber of days served by the judge acting as a Senior Status Special Judge.","path":["KRS Chapter 118"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57003","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:15Z","sha256":"f5ddab22de749e3a5480d294f7b5b3b84f7ec7cd6f379716a33bf30972c2a119","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-118.310","next":"us-ky/krs-118.320"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}