{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-83a.045","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 83A.045","heading":"Laws governing partisan and nonpartisan elections.","body":"(1) Except as provided in KRS 83A.047, partisan elections of city officers shall be\ngoverned by the following provisions, regardless of the form of government or\nclassification of the city:\n(a) A candidate for party nomination to city office shall file his or her nomination\npapers with the county clerk of the county not earlier than the first Wednesday\nafter the first Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which\nthe office will appear on the ballot and not later than the first Friday following\nthe first Monday in January before the day fixed by KRS Chapter 118 for\nholding a primary for the office sought. Signatures for nomination papers\nshall not be affixed on the document to be filed prior to the first Wednesday\nafter the first Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which\nthe office will appear on the ballot. All nomination papers shall be filed no\nlater than 4 p.m. local time when filed on the last day on which the papers are\npermitted to be filed;\n(b) An independent candidate for nomination to city office shall not participate in\na primary, but shall file his or her nomination papers with the county clerk of\nthe county not earlier than the first Wednesday after the first Monday in\nNovember of the year preceding the year in which the office will appear on\nthe ballot and not later than the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June\nbefore the day fixed by KRS Chapter 118 for holding a regular election for the\noffice. Signatures for nomination papers shall not be affixed on the documen t\nto be filed prior to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November of\nthe year preceding the year in which the office will appear on the ballot. All\nnomination papers shall be filed no later than 4 p.m. local time when filed on\nthe last day on which the papers are permitted to be filed; and\n(c) A candidate for city office who is defeated in a partisan primary shall be\nineligible as a candidate for the same office in the regular election. However,\nif a vacancy occurs in the party nomination for wh ich he or she was an\nunsuccessful candidate in the primary, his or her name may be placed on the\nballot for the regular election as a candidate of that party if he or she has been\nduly made the party nominee after the vacancy occurs, as provided in KRS\n118.105.\n(2) Except as provided in KRS 83A.047, nonpartisan elections of city officers shall be\ngoverned by KRS 83A.050, 83A.170, 83A.175, and the following provisions,\nregardless of the form of government or classification of the city:\n(a) A candidate for ci ty office shall file his or her nomination papers with the\ncounty clerk of the county not earlier than the first Wednesday after the first\nMonday in November of the year preceding the year in which the office will\nappear on the ballot and not later than th e first Friday following the first\nMonday in January before the day fixed by KRS Chapter 118 for holding a\nprimary for nominations for the office. Signatures for nomination papers shall\nnot be affixed on the document to be filed prior to the first Wednesda y after\nthe first Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which the\noffice will appear on the ballot. All nomination papers shall be filed no later\nthan 4 p.m. local time when filed on the last day on which the papers are\npermitted to be filed;\n(b) Any city of the home rule class may by ordinance provide that the nomination\nand election of candidates for city office in a nonpartisan election shall be\nconducted pursuant to the provisions of this subsection:\n1. A city may forgo conducting a nonpa rtisan primary for the nomination\nof candidates to city office, regardless of the number of candidates\nrunning for each office, and require all candidates to file their\nnomination papers with the county clerk of the county not earlier than\nthe first Wednes day after the first Monday in November of the year\npreceding the year in which the office will appear on the ballot and not\nlater than the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June before the day\nfixed by KRS Chapter 118 for holding a regular election f or the office.\nSignatures for nomination papers shall not be affixed on the document\nto be filed prior to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in\nNovember of the year preceding the year in which the office will appear\non the ballot;\n2. All nomination papers shall be filed no later than 4 p.m. local time when\nfiled on the last day on which the papers are permitted to be filed;\n3. If a city does not conduct a primary pursuant to this subsection, the\nelection of candidates to city office sh all be governed by the provisions\nof this subsection, KRS 83A.175(2) to (6), and KRS Chapters 116 to\n121;\n4. In the absence of a primary pursuant to this subsection, the number of\ncandidates equal to the number of city offices to be filled who receive\nthe highest number of votes cast in the regular election for each city\noffice shall be elected;\n5. Candidates shall be subject to all other applicable election laws pursuant\nto this chapter and KRS Chapters 116 to 121;\n6. If a vacancy occurs in a candidacy for  city office in any city which has\nnot held a primary pursuant to this subsection after the expiration of\ntime for filing nomination papers, or if there are fewer candidates than\nthere are offices to be filled, the vacancy in candidacy shall be filled by\nwrite-in voting; and\n7. At the regular election, the voters shall be instructed to vote for one (1)\ncandidate, except when there is more than one (1) candidate for which\nvoters may vote, the instruction \"vote for up to .... candidates\" shall be\nused on the ballot; and\n(c) A candidate for city office who is defeated in a nonpartisan primary shall be\nineligible as a candidate for the same office in the regular election.\n(3) Any city enacting an ordinance eliminating the nonpartisan primary as authorized\nby sub section (2)(b) of this section or enacting an ordinance that repeals a\npreviously enacted ordinance that eliminated the nonpartisan primary authorized by\nsubsection (2)(b) of this section shall file the ordinance with the county clerk of the\ncounty or coun ties in which the city is located no later than the first Wednesday\nafter the first Monday in November of the year preceding the year in which city\nelections are held.","path":["KRS Chapter 83A"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=53991","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:44Z","sha256":"864d4caddfb73f941291281b954d607fb62c554a608ab93c80326ca9032db79f","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-83a.043","next":"us-ky/krs-83a.047"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}