Request By:
Mr. Ray VanHoose
Boyd County Court Clerk
Courthouse
Catlettsburg, Kentucky 41129
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of February 28 in which you refer to the present confusion concerning a precinct boundary line and desire to know whether or not the county board of elections can correct the boundary line at this time.
Our response to your question would be in the affirmative provided it is done not later than March 15. KRS 117.055 which provided that no election precincts shall be changed later than 55 days prior to the primary or general election was amended by House Bill 350 to provide that no precinct shall be created, divided, abolished or changed later than the last date prescribed by law generally for filing notification and declaration papers with the county clerk or Secretary of State. It is further provided that no precinct shall be changed prior to any general election later than the last day prescribed by law for filing of certificates or petitions county clerk or Secretary of State. House Bill 350, as you know, changed the primary date back to the first Tuesday after the fourth Monday in May of each year, which in this case would be May 29 by amending KRS 118.025. At the same time, this bill amended KRS 118.165 by requiring all candidates to file their notification and declaration papers not less than 75 days before the primary election which would be not later than March 15. This date change affects only the 1984 primary. Beginning in 1985 and thereafter the filing deadline will be 90 days before the May primary.
Thus, in view of the fact, election precincts can be altered not later than the last day for filing notification and declaration papers for the primary, and in view of the fact the last day for filing will be March 15, 1984 the county board of elections can change the precinct in question any time prior to this filing deadline.