Jernigan v. Curtis 622 S.W.2d 686 622 S.W.2d 686 (Cite as: 622 S.W.2d 686) Page 2 OPINION AND ORDER Before HOWERTON, SHEIMER, JJ. McDONALD and WINTER- McDONALD, Judge. This appeal has been taken from a judgment upholding the Republican primary election for the office of circuit court clerk of Monroe County held on May 26, 1981. Patsy Jernigan, a defeated candidate, initiated the contest seeking to set aside the election based upon certain specific illegal votes and extensive violations of the Kentucky voting laws that occurred in two precincts. In the primary election conducted on May 26, 1981, three candidates contested the Republican nomination for the office of circuit court clerk of Monroe County. The following table sets out the candidates, the total votes they received in the election, and the number of votes that they received in each of the two disputed precincts. CINCT NO. 1 CANDIDATES (Fountain Run) PREPRECINCT NO. 6 TOTAL VOTES (West Tompkinsville) Jessie Pearl Curtis 1,861 153 167 Patsy Jernigan 1,857 61 158 Melva Jean Headrick 889 12 107 ----------- ------------- -------------------4,607 226 432 *688 On June 9, 1981, Mrs. Jernigan initiated this election contest challenging the legality of five specifically named voters who cast their votes at the two precincts listed above, and also seeking to have the vote of both of those precincts thrown out because of alleged extensive violations of the election law. The respondent filed a motion to quash the summons and to have the contest dismissed because the summons was not served on her personally by the sheriff within 15 days of the date of the election. As part of her answer, Curtis filed a counterclaim alleging violations of K.R.S. 121.055 in that certain poll workers had expended money and other things of value directly and indirectly to persons in consideration of the vote of that person. Extensive evidence was heard by the circuit court which is contained in over 900 pages of transcript in the record. On September 30, 1981, the trial court entered a 73-page resume of evidence, findings of fact, conclusion and judgment. The judgment found two of the specifically named voters to have voted illegally, found that two others had voted legally, and failed to make any finding as to the fifth voter. The judgment found that the contests had been timely initiated. Finally, the judgment found that any violations of the election laws in the precincts named in the petition did not amount to such widespread irregularity that the votes of those precincts should be discarded, and declared Curtis to be the winner of the election. The issues presented by this appeal are as follows: (1) Whether or not this election contest was timely initiated; (2) whether the voters specifically named in the petition cast their votes illegally; and (3) whether there was such widespread illegal conduct at either the Fountain Run or the West Tompkinsville precincts that the vote of that precinct should be discarded. 1. Whether or not the contest was timely initiated. The contestee filed a motion to quash the summons and dismiss the appeal on the grounds that the summons had not been delivered to a sheriff or other individual authorized to serve summons within fifteen (15) days. It is not disputed that the complaint was filed within fifteen days of the date of the primary election and that summons was issued by the clerk and delivered to the contestee by the contestant's attorney on that same day. The statute covering procedure in primary elections provides that the summons may be personally served on the contestee in any county, or © 2006 Thomson/West. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works. 295