Although voters in Clinton County will be affected in some way by redistricting and fiscal court members (magistrates) will eventually see changes in their districts, it won’t be in the May primary election and may not even take place this year at all.

Because of all the legal actions filed in relation to the original Congressional redistricting which affected several Kentucky House and Senate districts, the redistricting, or redrawing of boundary lines in local magisterial districts is now on hold indefinitely, according to Clinton County Clerk Jim Elmore.

Redrawing of boundary lines to bring voter population within a certain percent for each district represented at the federal, state and local levels, is required after each 10-year U.S. Census cycle. In some cases, redistricting of boundaries in counties isn’t even required if magisterial districts are similar in the number of registered voters in each district.

This year, however, after the redistricting committee had finished its work, it was evident that some major changes, especially in a couple of magisterial districts, would be necessary.

Following a lawsuit filed by several lawmakers against the state’s redistricting plan and signed into law by the governor early this year, the redistricting process was put on hold.

County Clerk Elmore said he wasn’t sure when the actual redistricting process would again proceed, noting it may be possible the measure will be taken up before the November general election, but also said it may not take place this year at all.

According to a memorandum from Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes in February to all county clerks, only six counties in the state were required to redraw boundaries, those being Boyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Jessamine, Spencer and Washington. The memorandum noted that “only those counties whose boards determine that any precinct boundary ‘crosses’ a congressional district boundary are required to redraw precinct boundaries to comply with KRS 117.055 (1)(a) to (g).

The correspondence also said that, “at this time, no other counties should submit any proposed precinct establishment orders to the State Board of Elections. However, you should retain the work you have done, as it may be useful to you in the future.”

Although no time line is known as to when the actual redistricting process will take place, there will for sure be an election coming in a few weeks and Elmore noted that the voting machine set up in his office for voters who will be out of town on election day was set up Saturday, April 28.

Deputy Clerk Shelia Booher also said that almost 100 mail absentee ballots had already been requested, suggesting a possible moderate turn out locally for the upcoming primary election.

Although only a handful of “contested” races will appear on the primary ballot later this month, several races will be on tap in November, including the added district race for third district magistrate to fill the unexpired term of Republican Willard Johnson, who resigned on April 10. Former judge/executive Larry Hatfield, a Democrat, has been appointed to fill the seat until November.

According to Elmore, each executive committee from the Clinton County Democrat and Republican party will select a candidate to run for the seat in November. The winner will serve the remaining two years of the term through 2014.