Request By:
Honorable Robert Turley
Madison County Judge
Richmond, Kentucky 40475
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of March 29 in which you request an opinion concerning the following:
"1. Rules and Regulations concerning voting at the poles on election day, such as, can cards or literature be handed out?
"2. Can posters be put on voting booth?
"3. Who is allowed to be in voting booth except election officers?
"4. Can people congregate outside the election booth?"
In response to your initial question we refer you to KRS 117.235, a copy of which we are attaching. Subsection (3) of this statute prohibits electioneering within a certain distance of the polling place depending upon the action taken by the fiscal court. The term "electioneering" has never been specifically defined by the court, however, we have indicated in OAG 74-773 [copy attached] that we believe it means where a person, through some overt action, tries to sway a voter to vote for a particular candidate or public question by persuasion, harassment or intimidation. This would obviously prevent the handing out of political cards and literature at the polling place or within the area outside established by law in which electioneering is prohibited. In OAG 75-627 [copy attached] we took the position that political posters that were erected before the polls opened would not constitute a form of electioneering, but during the polling hours, posters could not be erected in or around the polling place or within the prohibited radius established pursuant to KRS 117.235 (3).
Our response to your second question would be in the negative as we do not believe that political posters can be placed on the voting booth itself under any circumstances even though erected prior to the opening of the polls referred to in OAG 75-627 above.
In response to your third question, reference is made to KRS 117.255 [copy attached] which concerns assistance to physically disabled persons. This statute represents the only authorization for either the election officers or anyone else, other than the person casting his vote, to be present in the voting booth at the time the voter cast his vote. Under this statute the disabled voter may select a person of his own choice to assist him in casting his vote. In other words, he may designate someone other than the judges of the election, if he so chooses. However, such person must execute the oath as therein prescribed as well as the disabled voter himself.
In response to your fourth question you will note that subsection (1) of KRS 117.235 provides that no person other than the election officers and the challengers shall be permitted within the voting room while the vote is being polled, with certain exceptions. Even the officers and challengers should not in any way interfere with the election process by congregating outside of the voting booth. Of course, one of the judges must be there to operate the machine but the rest of the perimeter should be clear of election officials and challengers.