{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-120.055","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 120.055","heading":"Procedure for contest of primary.","body":"Any candidate for nomination to office at a primary held under the provisions of KRS\n118.015 to 118.035 and 118.105 to 118.255, or any candidate for nomination to a city\noffice at a primary for which the statutes do not otherwise provide for determining contest\nelections, for whom a number of votes was cast equal to not less than fifty percent (50%)\nof the votes cast for the successful candidate for nomination to the office, may contest the\nright of the successful candidate, and of any other candidate for n omination to the office,\nto the nomination, by filing a petition in the Circuit Court within ten (10) days from the\nday of the primary, stating the specific grounds relied upon for the contest, and causing a\nsummons to be issued, returnable in seven (7) da ys. In the case of candidates for offices\nfor the state at large, the petition shall be filed in the Franklin Circuit Court; in the case of\nother candidates it shall be filed in the Circuit Court of the county in which the contestee\nresides. The summons may be personally served on the contestee in any county, or it may\nbe served by leaving a copy at his or her home with a member of his or her family over\nsixteen (16) years of age, or by posting a copy on the door of his or her residence. The\ncontestee shall file his or her answer within seven (7) days after service of summons. The\nanswer may contain grounds of contest in favor of the contestee and against the\ncontestant, but the grounds shall be specifically set out. Any candidate who would have\nbeen qualifi ed to bring a contest action under this section, who is a party to a recount\nproceeding brought under KRS 120.095, may, by filing an answer in the recount\nproceeding within the time allowed by this section for filing grounds of contest, set forth\ngrounds of contest against the petitioner in the recount proceeding. No ground of contest\nby either party shall be filed or made more definite by amendment after the expiration of\nthe time allowed by this section for filing the original pleading. The contestant may  file a\nreply within five (5) days after answer is filed, which shall complete the pleading, and any\naffirmative matter in the reply shall be treated as controverted. Upon return of the\nsummons, properly executed, to the office of the circuit clerk of the county in which the\naction is pending, the clerk shall immediately docket the cause and notify the presiding\njudge of the court that the contest has been instituted, and the judge shall proceed to a\ntrial of the cause within five (5) days after the issue w as joined. In judicial circuits having\nmore than one (1) Circuit Judge, the judge who shall hear the cause shall be determined\nby lot.","path":["KRS Chapter 120"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=50331","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:18Z","sha256":"72d9116290decf4d9d4e3731c4fa75d7cfd3fa59a1d4b935dbb8343333d9ac1b","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-120.050","next":"us-ky/krs-120.060"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}