Request By:
Honorable Robert B. Hensley
Hart County Attorney
Munfordville, Kentucky 42765
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Walter C. Herdman, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
This is in answer to your letter of September 7 in which you request an opinion concerning the following:
"We have two voting precincts located in the city limits of Bonnieville, Hart County, Kentucky. It has become desirable to move the actual voting booth of one precinct into the geographical limits of the other precinct; a distance of less than one hundred feet from the present location of the voting booth proposed to be moved. After the move, there will remain two voting booths separated by several hundred feet but actually located within the same precinct.
"We would appreciate an opinion from your office as to whether or not the proposed move as indicated above would affect the legality of any votes cast subsequent to such move."
In response to the above question, we do not believe that there can be more than one voting place in any one precinct. KRS 117.065 provides that the county board of elections shall, not later than September 20 of each year, establish the voting place for each precinct. KRS 117.055 permits a single voting place to be utilized by multiple precincts where they join each other pursuant to the following provision:
". . . The county board of elections shall have the authority to draw precinct lines so as to enable more than one precinct to vote at one location. . . ."
In answer to your specific question, we can only say, as we indicated above, that the statutes appear to permit only one voting place in any one precinct, though such voting place may be utilized by a number of precincts where it is located on or near joining precinct lines.
As to whether the use of multiple voting places in a single precinct would affect the election, we cannot answer as such would probably depend upon many factors, including proper notifications to the voters of this change, and the conduct of the election itself.