Legislation intended to head off election controversies like the one surrounding the 37th Senate District race has stalled in this year's legislative session.
The House of Representatives ran out of time in the session to enact Senate Bill 127, said House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook.
"The last week, we were so busy working on the budget, some things just didn't get done," Adkins said.
He said he has no plans to call the bill Monday or Tuesday, when the General Assembly will meet for the final two days of the 2005 session.
But Secretary of State Trey Grayson said he is still holding out hope the bill can be passed. He has been talking with county clerks across the state, asking them to call House members.
"All it needs is a simple roll-call vote," he said.
The legislation would require that a candidate challenge an opponent's qualifications at least 50 days before a primary or general election.
That, theoretically, would give a court enough time to rule on the challenge before ballots are printed and elections are held, supporters say.
In the battle for the 37th Senate District seat, Democrat Virginia Woodward filed suit one day before the election challenging whether Republican Dana Seum Stephenson was qualified.
Stephenson received 1,022 more votes than Woodward, but a judge ruled three weeks later that Stephenson was disqualified because she hadn't resided in Kentucky for the previous six years.
Since then, the case has been tied up in the courts and no one has represented the 37th District in Frankfort.
Grayson said he would prefer passing the measure now because it appears to have bipartisan support.
"Election bills tend to be partisan or politically charged," he said. "Sometimes they're easier to pass in nonelection years."