Request By:
Mr. Buel E. Stalls
Murray Machine & Tool Company
Industrial Road
P.O. Box 69
Murray, Kentucky 42071
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of June 9 in which you seek an opinion concerning the following:
"In the May 24th primary election there were two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for the office of Mayor of Murray, which, as you know, is a city of the third class. There were no Republican and no Independent candidates for this office.
"If a person desires to be an Independent candidate, in the November general election, for the office of Mayor of a third class city what criteria, in reference to how he/she must file, when he/she must file, his/her party affiliation etc., must this person meet?"
In response to your questions, any qualified person, regardless of his party affiliation, may file an independent petition on the form prescribed by the state board of elections in accordance with KRS 118.315. See 25 Am.Jur. 2d, Elections, § 168. This petition must contain the names and addresses of at least twenty (20) petitioners who are qualified voters of the city, and must be filed not later than September 14 with the county clerk.