Request By:
Mr. James M. Groves, Chairman
Todd County Democratic
Executive Committee
P.O. Box 587
Elkton, Kentucky 42220
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 22 in which you raise several questions, each of which will be answered by separate letter. Your initial question involves the following:
"The voting precincts of Todd County have been redrawn by the county board of elections to be effective after the general election in November, 1977. Every voting precinct in the county has been changed, as there had been no changes in the precincts in the memory of any person around.
"On September 15th, I submitted to the Democratic member of the county board of elections a list of names for appointment as election officers under the authority of KRS 116.070. As all precincts will be changed, and in fact there will be fewer precincts, how will officers for the primary next year be chosen? Does the Executive Committee have any right to submit another list before the primary, or does the board of elections choose the precinct officers? Also, must the Democratic County Chairman call for new elections for precinct committee members, and a new election for the executive committee? "
To begin with, the statute you cite relating to the appointment of election commissioners has been recoded as KRS 117.045. Pursuant to this section, those precinct officers selected in September of each year are to serve as election officers for the succeeding year, including the following primary, unless of course they become disqualified and are removed or resign. You will also note under subsection (2) of this statute that vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as provided for original appointments and the persons appointed to fill vacancies shall be of the same political party as their predecessors.
In answer to your specific questions, if precinct lines are redrawn but their names or numbers remain unchanged after the September '77 selection of election officers, thereby placing certain officers in precincts other than the one for which they were originally designated and selected, we believe the board must remove and replace said officers with persons from lists aleady submitted for the altered precinct, provided there are any names left that qualify within the altered precinct. On the other hand, if new precincts are created, or if no names remain on the party list for an altered precinct, then the board should, we believe, permit the party to submit a supplemental list of names for the new precinct or for the particular precinct no longer having any names on the list.
As to whether or not the party must call for a new election of precinct committee members and an executive committee, is a matter governed solely by party rules and you should check with the State Democratic Executive Committee for an answer to these questions.