{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-83a.170","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 83A.170","heading":"Nonpartisan primaries.","body":"(1) In any city which has under the provisions of KRS 83A.045 or 83A.050 required\nnonpartisan city elections, no person shall be elected to city office except as\nprovided in this section or as otherwise provided in this chapter relating to\nnonpartisan elections.\n(2) No person shall be elected to city office without being nominated in the manner\nprovided in this section at a nonpartisan primary to be held at the time prescribed by\nKRS Chapters 116 to 121, except as otherwise provided in this chapter. Nonpartisan\nprimaries shall be conducted by the same officers, chosen and acting in the same\nmanner, with the same rights and duties as in regular elections.\n(3) Each applicant for nomination shall, not earlier than the first Wednesday after the\nfirst Monday in Novem ber of the year preceding the year in which the office will\nappear on the ballot and not later than the last date prescribed by the election law\ngenerally for filing notification and declaration forms with the county clerk as\nprovided in KRS 83A.047, file a petition of nomination, which shall be in the form\nprescribed by the State Board of Elections signed by at least two (2) registered\nvoters in the city. Each voter may sign individual petitions equal to the number of\noffices to be filled. If a voter signs  petitions for more candidates than he or she is\nauthorized, he or she shall be counted as a petitioner for the candidate whose\npetition is filed first.\n(4) The county clerk shall examine the petition of each candidate to determine whether\nit is regular on  its face. If there is an error, the county clerk shall notify the\ncandidate by certified mail within twenty-four (24) hours of filing.\n(5) Immediately upon expiration of the time for filing petitions, the county clerk shall\nhave published in accordance with KRS Chapter 424 the names of the applicants as\nthey will appear before the voters at the primary.\n(6) Subsection (5) of this section shall not apply if it appears, immediately upon\nexpiration of the time for filing petitions, that there are not more tha n two (2)\napplicants for nomination for each city office to be filled, or, when the nominations\nare for city legislative body members in cities electing legislative body members at\nlarge, and there are no more than twice the number of applicants for nomina tion for\nthe number of offices to be filled. In that case, the applicants for nomination shall\nthereby be nominated and no drawing for ballot position nor primary election shall\nbe held for that office.\n(7) The ballot position of a candidate shall not be c hanged after the ballot position has\nbeen designated by the county clerk.\n(8) If, before the time of certification of candidates who will appear on the ballot, any\ncandidate whose petition has been filed in the office of the county clerk dies or\nnotifies the clerk in writing, signed and properly notarized, that he or she will not\naccept the nomination, the clerk shall not cause the candidate's name to be printed\non the ballot.\n(9) If, after the certification of candidates who will appear on the ballot, any candidate\nwhose name appears thereon shall withdraw pursuant to KRS 118.212, be\ndisqualified, or die:\n(a) Neither the precinct election officers nor the county board of elections shall\ndisclose or report on the official certification of the votes cast for the\ncandidate;\n(b) The county  clerk shall provide notices to the precinct election officers who\nshall see that a notice is conspicuously displayed at the polling place advising\nvoters of the change, and that votes for the candidate shall not be disclosed or\nreported. If the county cle rk learns of the death, disqualification, or\nwithdrawal at least five (5) days prior to the election and provides the notices\nrequired by this subsection and the precinct officers fail to post the notices at\nthe polling place, the officers shall be guilty of a violation; and\n(c) In a primary, if there are only one (1) or two (2) remaining candidates on the\nballot for that office, following the withdrawal, disqualification, or death of\nthe other candidate or candidates, neither the precinct election officers  nor the\ncounty board of elections shall disclose or report on the official certification\nof the votes for the remaining candidate or candidates, and the officer with\nwhom the remaining candidate or candidates has filed his or her nomination\npapers shall i mmediately issue and file in his or her office a certificate of\nnomination for that remaining candidate or candidates and send a copy to the\nremaining candidate or candidates.\n(10) Names of applicants for each nomination shall be placed before the voters o f the\ncity. The voters shall be instructed to vote for one (1) candidate, except when there\nis more than one (1) candidate for which voters may vote, the instruction \"vote for\nup to .... candidates\" shall be used on the ballot. No party designation or embl em of\nany kind nor any sign indicating any applicant's political belief or party affiliation\nshall be used.\n(11) Persons qualified to vote at a regular election shall be qualified to vote at a\nnonpartisan primary and the law applicable to challenges made a t a regular election\nshall be applicable to challenges made at a nonpartisan primary.\n(12) Votes shall be counted as provided in general election laws, pursuant to KRS\nChapters 116 to 121, and the result shall be published as provided in KRS Chapter\n424.\n(13) The two (2) applicants receiving the highest number of votes for nomination for\neach city office shall be nominated; or where the nominations are for city legislative\nbody members in cities electing legislative body members at large, there shall be\nnominated the number of applicants receiving the highest number of votes equal to\ntwice the number of offices to be filled. If two (2) candidates are tied for the second\nhighest number of votes in a mayoral election, the names of those two (2)\ncandidates, plus the name of the candidate receiving the highest number of votes,\nshall be placed upon the ballot.\n(14) At the regular election following a nonpartisan primary, the names of the successful\nnominees and candidates who have filed a petition of candidacy as provided in this\nchapter to fill a vacancy shall be placed before the voters.\n(15) The nominee or candidate receiving the greater number of votes cast for each city\noffice shall be elected.\n(16) KRS Chapters 116 to 121 prescribing duties of county clerks a nd other public\nofficers in the conduct of elections shall be applicable in all respects to nonpartisan\ncity elections, except no election officer or other person within a polling place shall\ntell or indicate to a voter, by word of mouth or otherwise, the political affiliation of\nany candidate for city office.","path":["KRS Chapter 83A"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57011","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:44Z","sha256":"89ab7ac72dc99b9de2a9405e3cf0b3f008b368e02b9913ae91e9f489356d11d6","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-83a.165","next":"us-ky/krs-83a.175"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}