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120.205 Board for determining contest of election of Governor or Lieutenant
Governor.
When the election of a Governor or Lieutenant Governor is contested, a board for
determining the contest shall be formed and shall proceed in the following manner:
(1) On the third day after the organization of the General Assembly that meets
next after the election, the Senate shall select three (3) of its members, and the
House of Representatives shall select eight (8) of its members, and the eleven
(11) so selected shall constitute a board to try the contest, seven (7) of whom
shall constitute a quorum. In making the selection, the name of each member
present shall be written on a separate piece of paper, every piece being as
nearly similar to the other as possible. Each piece shall be rolled up so that the
names thereon cannot be seen nor any particular piece ascertained or selected
by feeling. The whole, so prepared, shall be placed by the clerk in a box on his
table, and after it has been well shaken and the papers therein well intermixed
the clerk shall draw out one (1) paper, which shall be opened and read aloud
by the presiding officer, and so on until the required number is obtained. If any
person so selected swears that he cannot, without great personal
inconvenience, serve on the board, or that he feels an undue bias for or
against either of the parties, he may be excused by the house from which he
was chosen from serving on the board, and if it appears that a person so
selected is related to either party, or is liable to any other proper objection on
the score of his partiality, he shall be excused. Any deficiency in the proper
number so created shall be supplied by another draw from the box. The
members of the board so chosen shall be sworn by the Speaker of the House
of Representatives to try the contested election, and give true judgment
thereon according to the evidence unless dissolved before rendering judgment.
(2) The board shall, within twenty-four (24) hours after its selection, meet, appoint
its chairman, and assign a day for hearing the contest, and may adjourn from
day to day as its business requires. If any member of the board willfully fails to
attend its sessions he shall be reported to the house to which he belongs, and
that house shall thereupon, in its discretion, punish him by fine or
imprisonment, or both.
(3) The board may send for persons, papers and records and issue attachments
therefor signed by its chairman or clerk, and may issue commissions for taking
proof.
(4) If it appears that the candidates receiving the highest number of votes given
have received an equal number, the right to the office shall be determined by
lot, under the direction of the board. If the person returned is found not to have
been legally qualified to receive the office at the time of his election, and the
first two (2) years of his term have not expired, a new election shall be ordered
to fill the vacancy. If a person other than the one returned is found to have
received the highest number of legal votes given, he shall be adjudged to be
the person elected and entitled to the office.
(5) No decision shall be made but by the vote of six (6) members of the board. The
decision of the board shall not be final nor conclusive, but shall be reported to
the two (2) houses of the General Assembly, in joint session, for the further
action of the General Assembly. The Speaker of the House shall preside at the
(6)
(7)
joint session, and the General Assembly shall then determine the contest. If no
decision of the board is given during the then session of the General Assembly,
it shall be dissolved, unless by joint resolution of the two (2) houses it is
empowered to continue longer.
If a new election is required, it shall be immediately ordered by proclamation of
the Speaker of the House, to take place on a day not less than thirty (30) days
nor more than six (6) weeks thereafter.
When a new election is ordered or the incumbent is adjudged not to be entitled
to the office, his power shall immediately cease, and if the office is not
adjudged to another it shall be deemed to be vacant.
History: Created 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 130, sec. 168.
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