Could a write-in candidate win a Kentucky school board seat when nobody filed for it?

Plain-English summary

Kentucky’s Department of Education asked how write-in voting worked when an independent school district had several at-large board openings but fewer validly filed candidates than seats. The Attorney General said write-in candidates could compete for seats with a filed candidate. A seat with no filed candidate was different: under the specific school-board vacancy statute, the chief state school officer filled that new term by appointment, so there was no election for a write-in candidate to enter.

The opinion read the general write-in and election provisions together with the specific appointment rule. Its result limited the number of seats filled through the at-large election to the number of qualified candidates who had filed. It addressed the statutory arrangement in effect in 2003.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could a write-in candidate win a school board seat with no candidate on the ballot? A: The Attorney General said no under the law it analyzed. If no candidate filed for that seat, the chief state school officer appointed a qualified member instead of holding an election for it.

Q: Were write-in candidates excluded from every school board race?
A: No. The opinion said a write-in could run for a board opening that had a validly filed, qualified candidate.

Q: What happened when an at-large district had more openings than filed candidates? A: The opinion treated the extra openings as appointment seats, while the openings with filed candidates remained subject to election.

Background and statutory framework

KRS 118.315 set candidate-petition requirements, and KRS 160.240(1) generally applied election rules to school-board elections. KRS 160.210(1)(b) more specifically required an appointment when no candidate filed for a local board opening. The Attorney General used the specific appointment provision to resolve the at-large vacancy question.

Citations and references

Statutes: KRS 118.315; KRS 160.210(1)(b); KRS 160.240(1).

Source

• Landing page: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_e2d646e0-24cb-4d6a-be29-3f178cdc1a5f/
• Original PDF: https://kdla.access.preservica.com/download/file/IO_e2d646e0-24cb-4d6a-be29-3f178cdc1a5f

Original opinion text

OAG 03-001
February 21, 2003
Subject:

Write-In Candidate Eligibility for Vacant School Board Seats
in Independent Districts

Requested by:

Kevin Noland, Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel
of the Kentucky Department of Education

Written by:

Morgain M. Sprague,
Assistant Attorney General

Syllabus:

In independent school districts, write-in candidates are eligible to run for vacancies for which there is a valid candidate also running. However, in those vacancies for which there is no candidate, they are filled by appointment, not election.

Statutes construed: KRS 118.315, 160.190, 160.210, 160.240
OAGs cited:

90 OAG 135
Opinion of the Attorney General

The Kentucky Department of Education has requested an opinion whether
write-in candidates are eligible to run for positions on the board for independent school districts where candidates run at-large. The fundamental issue presented by this inquiry is whether, in an at-large election when there are several vacancies on the school board and an insufficient number of validly filed candidates to fill each vacancy, write-in candidates can fill an unopposed vacancy. It is our opinion that such vacancies cannot be filled by election, but must be made via appointment by the State Commissioner.

OAG 03-001
Page 2

Write-in candidates are generally eligible to run in any election. In an atlarge election, however, there may be exigencies in which there are board vacan cies for which no candidate has filed to run. In other words, there are more va cancies than candidates. In that case, the vacancies are filled by appointment and not by election. Where there is no election, write-in candidates are ineligible to fill the school board vacancy. KRS 160.240 (1) is a broad statute that applies general election rules to school board elections. KRS 118.315 establishes the criteria for candidates seeking nomination for election to an office. To validly file and become a candidate for the office, a person must submit a petition; whose form is established by the State Election Board; signed by a set number of registered voters from the district/jurisdiction in which that candidate seeks a nomination; and, lastly, file that application by the August deadline. When these statutes are read in conjunction, there is no doubt that write-in candidates can run for school board vacancies in elections. See OAG 90-105. The law of statutory construction dictates that when two statutes present a conflict or ambiguity, then the more specific statute governs. See, DeStock No. 14, Inc. v. Logsdon, Ky., 993 S.W.2d 952, 959 (1999). KRS 160.240(1) and KRS 118.315 are by design, general statutes. KRS 160.210(1)(b), however, is a more specific statute governing school board elections. KRS 160.210(1)(b) states as follows:
[i]f no candidate files a petition for nomination for a local board of
education opening pursuant to KRS 118.315 and 118.316, the chief
state school officer shall fill the new term of office by appointing a
member to the local board who meets the residency requirement
and the qualifications for office provided in KRS 160.180. The local board of education may make nominations and any person may nominate himself or another for the office. As such, where there are vacancies on the school board but no candidate has filed a petition for nomination under KRS 118.315, the Commissioner, appoints a person to the vacancy pursuant to KRS 160.210(1)(b). Since the vacancy is then filled via appointment, no election is held for that position. Because

OAG 03-001
Page 3

there is no election, there can be no write-in candidate. So, for an at large election for school board seat, the effect of these statutes is to limit the number of vacancies open for election to the number of validly filed applicants. If there are more vacancies than candidates, the Commissioner becomes a de facto electorate of one. To sum up, a write in candidate may only run for a school board seat in which there is a validly filed and qualified candidate on the ballot. Albert B. Chandler III Attorney General

Morgain Sprague
Assistant Attorney General