{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-120.280","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 120.280","heading":"Contest on constitutional convention or amendment, or statewide public","body":"question.\n(1) Any elector who was qualified to and did vote on any constitutional convention,\nconstitutional amendment, or statewide public question submitted to the voters of\nthe state for their ratification or rejection may contest the election or demand a\nrecount of the ballots by filing a petition, not more than fifteen (15) days after the\nofficial canvass and the announcement of the vote for the state by the State Board of\nElections, with the clerk of the Franklin Circuit Court, which court shall have\nexclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters in such cases. The petition\nshall set forth the grounds of the contest. The contestant may file with the clerk of\nthe Frank lin Circuit Court and the Secretary of State a notice of his intention to\ncontest the election before the announcement of the official count by the State\nBoard of Elections and thereupon the Secretary of State shall forthwith notify all the\ncounty boards of elections in the counties involved in the contest to hold the ballots\ncast at the election on the question subject to the order of the Franklin Circuit Court.\nThe notice shall be served by the Secretary of State by mailing a true and certified\ncopy of the notice of contest, and the order to hold the ballots subject to the order of\nthe court, by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the sheriffs of the counties in\nquestion, and the sheriffs shall forthwith acknowledge receipt thereof.\n(2) The court shall, within five (5) days after the filing of the petition of contest,\ndetermine whether there are sufficient grounds stated to justify the contest, and shall\nthereupon require the contestants to give bonds for costs. All of the hearings\nrelating to the contest shall be held in the courthouse of Franklin County.\n(3) The clerk of the Franklin Circuit Court shall cause a notice of the contest to be\npublished pursuant to KRS Chapter 424, setting out the substance or the grounds of\ncontest alleged by the contestants.\n(4) Any elector who participated in the election on the convention, amendment, or\nstatewide public question may make himself a party as contestee in the action by\nfiling his petition to be made a party not later than five (5) days after the contes t is\ninstituted, and by giving bond of the costs as required of the contestant. If no elector\nmakes himself a party to the contest, the Commonwealth's attorney for the Franklin\nCircuit Court shall attend the trial of the cause, and he may file motions and\npleadings in the cause on behalf of the Commonwealth to insure a fair and honest\ndetermination of the contest.\n(5) All laws relating to contested elections for state offices shall apply with equal force\nto contests of the character contemplated by this sec tion, except as otherwise\nprovided in this section and in KRS 120.290.","path":["KRS Chapter 120"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=27839","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:18Z","sha256":"82bd5295ee4bb8e24938caa8cae20bdaadf16982ad555ab8ad7b5fcd48062191","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-120.270","next":"us-ky/krs-120.290"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}