Kentucky Advisory Opinions October 28, 2020: AGO OAG 20-16
Collection: Kentucky Attorney General Opinions
Docket: AGO OAG 20-16
Date: Oct. 28, 2020
Advisory Opinion Text
Subject: Is the 100-foot electioneering ban contained in KRS 117.235(3)(a) measured from the entrance to the polling place or from the voters in line at a polling place?
Requested by: Secretary of State Michael G. Adams
Written by: Marc Manley
Charles A. English
Assistant Attorneys General
Syllabus: KRS 117.235(3)(a) prohibits electioneering within 100 feet of the entrance of a polling place.
Opinion of the Attorney General
Amid the current public health emergency caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), and given recommendations on social distancing measures and reduced polling locations, voters may encounter long lines at their polling places. For that reason, Secretary of State Michael G. Adams asks whether the 100-foot electioneering ban contained in KRS 117.235(3)(a) is measured from the entrance to the polling place or from the voters in line at a polling place. Based on the statutory text, the Attorney General concludes that the 100-foot electioneering ban found in KRS 117.235(3)(a) is measured from the entrance to a polling place.
As the Supreme Court of Kentucky has noted, “the first rule of statutory interpretation is that the text of the statute is supreme.” Owen v. Univ. of Kentucky , 486 S.W.3d 266, 270 (Ky. 2016). Here, KRS 117.235 explicitly prohibits electioneering “at the polling place on the day of any election . . . within a distance of one hundred (100) feet of any entrance to a building in which a voting machine is located if that entrance is unlocked and is used by voters on election day.” KRS 117.235(3)(a) (emphasis added). Accordingly, the text of the statute controls. See Meyer v. Nebraska , 262 U.S. 390, 401 (1923) (stating that “a desirable end cannot be promoted by prohibited means”). “[I]f a statute is clear and unambiguous and expresses the legislature’s intent, the statute must be applied as written.” Hall v. Hospitality Res., Inc. , 276 S.W.3d 775, 784 (Ky. 2008). Thus, on Election Day, electioneering is prohibited within 100 feet of any entrance to a polling place.
Daniel Cameron, ATTORNEY GENERAL.
Marc Manley Charles A. English, Assistant Attorneys General.