Request By:
Mr. Lovell Livingood
Magistrate, Third District
R. R. 1
Moorefield, Kentucky 40350
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 3 in which you raise the following questions:
"a. Do County Clerk's have the jurisdiction to hand out Voter Registration forms to individuals that are running for political office? If not, what can be done about this?
b. What is the County residency requirements for voters?
c. Is it legal for persons living in one county voting in another? If not, what legal procedures can be followed to prosecute?
d. Does the County Clerks Office have the authority to tell the Election Officers at the Voting Booths that they will vote anyone that is on the Voter Registra (sic) although they have doubts of the legality of the person voting? If not, what are the legal procedures to prosecute?
In response to your initial question, KRS 116.045 authorizes the local distribution by the county clerk of blank voter registration cards to any individual or groups of individuals, either when requested in person or by mail. This would include the right of an individual who is running for a political office to obtain a reasonable number of the registration cards, to be determined by the clerk.
In response to your second question, KRS 116.045 provides in effect that any person may register as a voter during the period that the registration books are open if he possesses or will possess on the day of the next regular election the qualifications set forth in KRS 116.025. This latter statute provides that every person who is a resident of this state and has resided in the precinct in which he offers to vote thirty (30) days next preceding the day of any regular or special election, is qualified to vote, provided, of course, he possesses the other qualifications required by Section 145 of the Constitution, exclusive of the durational residential requirements, which have in effect been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dunn decision. As you may remember, prior to this decision and the adoption of the referred to statutes by the state legislature, a person was required to reside within the state one year, the county six months, and the precinct sixty days, in order to become a qualified voter.
In response to your third question, a voter is required to legally reside within his voting precinct; however, he may be absent temporarily and live elsewhere with the intention of returning and continue to maintain his legal residence in his old precinct, assuming he retains some factual evidence of this fact. We refer you to KRS 116.035 which sets forth certain rules applicable to determining the residence of a person offering to vote.
If there is some question concerning the right of an individual to continue to vote in a particular precinct when he no longer resides there, such can be raised by challenge before the county board of elections, initiated either by an individual or board itself, pursuant to the terms of KRS 116.125, at which point in time notice is required to be given to the voter of a hearing to be conducted to determine his right to continue voting in the precinct in which he is presently registered. If he does not respond or does not furnish sufficient proof to justify to the board that he continues to legally reside in the precinct, then his name must be purged from the registration books.
In response to your fourth question, and as you are probably aware, the names of all registered voters are placed on the registration lists that are sent to the various precincts. Those individuals who are listed on the registration roster in the precinct are prima facie eligible to vote under the terms of KRS 117.245, though of course they can be challenged by the election officers or any challenger. If a challenge is made, this statute further provides that the voter is entitled to execute a written oath as to his qualifications, and proceed to vote. That oath is referred to the Commonwealth's attorney and it is thereafter presented to the grand jury for investigation which may result in the prosecution of the voter for perjury.