Request By:
Mr. J. U. "Bud" Grow
Clerk
Simpson County Court
Franklin, Kentucky 42134
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of July 15, in which you relate that candidates for the office of mayor and city council were nominated at the Democratic Primary. At the same time there are two other candidates for mayor and at least three candidates for city council that have filed independent petitions. You desire to know how these candidates are to be placed on the November ballot.
The party nominees for mayor and council should be listed in the regular Democratic Party column on the ballot, ordinarily at the bottom of the column following the listing of county candidates. See KRS 118.215. At the same time the independent candidates for these offices must be listed in a single, vertical column by lot under the office they seek in accordance with KRS 118.215(3). There can be no independent party designation above or by their names. We are enclosing copies of two opinions covering this subject, namely, OAG 76-275 and 77-240.
You also mention that there are three independent candidates that have filed for the office of magistrate, which is, of course, a county office, who presumably filed before the primary as required by KRS 118.365(3). These independent candidates for the office of magistrate must be listed each in separate columns under the independent party name and symbol that they designated; or if none is designated, under the title "Independent." They will be listed, as we said, in separate columns in the position determined by lot across the face of the machine. They should also be placed, if it is possible to do so, in their column, directly opposite the party nominee for the office of magistrate if there is a nominee, so that the voter can easily determine the different candidates running for the magisterial office. Of course the district in which they are running must be indicated at the top of the independent column under the office of magistrate.
Hopefully, this answers your questions. However, if we can be of any further assistance, please call us.