In any contest over the nomination or election of any state, county, city or district officer, it may be alleged in the pleadings of the contestant that the provisions of KRS 121.025, 121.045, 121.055 or 121.310, have been violated by the contestee or by others in his behalf with his knowledge, and it may likewise be alleged in the pleadings of the contestee that such provisions have been violated by the contestant or by others in his behalf with his knowledge. If it appears upon the trial of the contest that such provisions have been violated by the contestant or by others in his behalf with his knowledge, the contest action shall be dismissed and the contestant shall have no further right to maintain the same. If no such violation by the contestant, or by others in his behalf with his knowledge, appears, and it appears that such provisions have been violated by the contestee or by others in his behalf with his knowledge, the nomination or election of the contestee shall be declared void. In the case of primary elections, if any candidate who is a party to the contest proceedings has not violated the provisions of KRS 121.025, 121.045, 121.055 or 121.310, and all candidates who received more votes than he did are also parties and are found to have violated those provisions, such candidate shall be declared nominated.
KRS 120.015
Corrupt practices as grounds for contest -- Effect if successful candidate found guilty
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Brown v. Hartlage (1982)
Most recently applied in Magoffin County Board of Elections v. John Montgomery (August 2016)
History: Created 1974 Ky
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Kentucky General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Kentucky statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.